


The Seventh Guest

by Verocity



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-23 23:44:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6134151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verocity/pseuds/Verocity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They are Infinite, because Sunggyu is there and Sunggyu will protect them in any way he can, and that makes them his Infinite no matter who they are, no matter what. (A story of leadership and responsibility set against a backdrop of magic and fantasy. Starring Infinite and fairies and a very frustrated Sunggyu.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Seventh Guest

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Bob and Reeza for enduring my untimely spazzing over this fic. The structure of magic and places referenced here are based heavily on Magic: The Gathering. Originally posted [.](http://infinitesanta.livejournal.com/34915.html)

"Infinite?" the floor director asks with a glance at her clipboard. "You're next."

Sunggyu knows there's no point in asking them if they're ready. They're Infinite. They're primed to perform at the drop of a hat. _This is who they are._

"We're the last," Sungyeol says blankly.

"Always close the show with a bang," Howon smirks, confident, always so intense whenever he gets his head in the game.

"Let's just have fun out there, guys," Dongwoo chides everyone, but all it earns is a nod from a focused Sungjong.

"Good maknae," Woohyun teases. He undoes another button on his top and Myungsoo rolls his eyes at the lack of finesse.

Sunggyu breathes deep. Gives his members one last look, catches himself when his eyes linger a split-second longer on Woohyun, and nods gamely. "Then let's do this."

They take the stage.

And they're back in the zone. World-class idols in their natural element, sharp moves and sharper angles executed flawless in as perfect a synchronicity as anyone can get. This is their music, committed to heart and muscle memory from countless hours practicing under Sunggyu's unforgiving standards. Everything they have now borne from years of hard work.

From the smoothness of his intro to the force of Howon's pops and locks and the sheer sensuality of Dongwoo's rolls, made possible by talent then honed by discipline.

Sungyeol takes the center to allure the audience with sheer stage presence and Sungjong breaks out from behind him, transforming allure to seduction. The spotlight shifts to Myungsoo who shines professionally under all the attention.

The music swells and Woohyun struts to his place, and Sunggyu tries to stop himself from smirking because they've always blown the audience away, _this_ is their game and Woohyun is a monster when he's primed, Golden Voice Nam Woohyun who flashes hearts at everyone to steal their hearts away.

But something's wrong. The sound isn't complete, the audience isn't roaring when they should be... Sunggyu turns his head and it's a moment that gets framed in his memories, a sight not to be remembered fondly.

Woohyun's eyes are frozen open in terror. His mouth is open like he's singing and his throat is strained, but Sunggyu can hear no sound coming out.

 

 

 

"Nice save out there, Gyu," Jinki says with two thumbs up. "Great headtone, never thought you had that technique. But I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less."

"Hey, thanks," Sunggyu says while looking around them, straining his neck to see further down the hallway. "Have you seen-" and he realizes that he's not talking to Infinite, bows almost ninety degrees "-erm. Never mind, sunbae, sorry for bothering you."

But Jinki shakes his head sadly. "I haven't seen Woohyun. But as one vocal to another? Please tell him to hang in there. This doesn't make him any less talented."

Sunggyu commits Jinki's words to heart. "I'll tell him. Thank you."

"Hyung? Did you find him?" Myungsoo asks, not bothering to hide the worry on his face when Sunggyu enters their waiting room. The rest of the group watches him warily.

"No," he says, exasperated. He heads straight to the corner and digs through his bag just to have something to do to hide his face. He's worried too but he can't let the members see that, and frustration isn't a good look on him. "But he'll turn up."

"We should go," Howon suggests. "It's getting pretty late."

"I'm sure he'll go straight home after he lets off some steam," Dongwoo adds.

Sungjong touches Sunggyu's shoulder tentatively, but what's heavier on Sunggyu's shoulders is Sungyeol's silence from across the room. He closes his eyes and tries to find a clearing of calmness in his mind, but instead he sees Woohyun cradling his head under the night sky and... crying?

Whoa. Where did that come from?

Looks like he's more out of it than he thinks.

"Yeah, let's go," he says, standing up and zipping his bag. "He's old enough to take care of himself."

 

 

 

He isn't naïve enough to expect a peaceful night.

"Hyung?" Quiet concern. Quieter than Sunggyu is used to, even from Sungyeol.

Sunggyu shakes his head. "Go to bed," he says. "I'll take care of him."

"Like fuck you can take care of me," Woohyun snarls, and Sungyeol sighs sadly. Sunggyu knows that part of the sadness, maybe even most of it, is directed at him. "Like fuck if you're better than me, I don't fucking need your pity." Woohyun stinks of tequila. Soju is for celebration, gin is for parties, vodka is for adventure, tequila is for when the world fucks him over.

"Are you sure?" Sungyeol asks. "You're tired, hyung, and he looks like a handful-" One of Woohyun's sneakers hits the wall an inch beside Sungyeol's head. Sungyeol doesn't even flinch.

"Don't you dare talk about me as if I'm not here." The acid in Woohyun's words congeals thickly in Sunggyu's chest. Woohyun happily drunk is groggy and infectious. Woohyun angrily drunk at three in the morning is another thing entirely. Natural athleticism and a well-honed body lead to easy violence when anger and alcohol are in command. Woohyun is already working his other shoe loose from his foot, and although Sungyeol is fast enough to dodge at this distance this is more undignified than Sunggyu is willing to stand for.

"Go to bed," Sunggyu repeats, his voice harder this time. Sungyeol's expression goes carefully blank, but he shrugs and goes back to his room with a quiet slam of the door. Sunggyu loses the softness in his eyes in an instant. "You listen to me," he hisses as he grabs Woohyun's throat and squeezes hard enough to make Woohyun realize that he means business.

Woohyun looks ready to fight back, but their eyes catch and Woohyun's fist freezes before he can throw the punch.

"You messed up. Fine. Shit happens," Sunggyu continues quietly. "That's nothing new, we're too tired to be perfect. But we get what rest we can, we work harder, and we move on. We don't get drunk off our ass and pick fights like kids just because our voice cracked during a show. Shit happens, _but we deal with it_."

Some people wear their failure like streaks of dried mud, something to wash away before the day ends. Others wear their failure like armor.

Woohyun rubs his neck as soon as Sunggyu lets go. They both know this is far from over. Woohyun's overwhelming need for acceptance and affirmation is both his strength and his blindness. "Brave words for a leader who resorts to slave-driving to motivate his group."

Years ago, Sunggyu would have risen to the bait, would have gotten riled up at the disrespect of age and seniority. Years ago, when the space between him and Woohyun still chafed with competition and unspoken insecurities, Sunggyu would have trapped Woohyun in a headlock and brought him down to his knees, not caring for context.

But then and now are different. In too few years, Sunggyu learned that Infinite needed a leader who would act how the members wished they themselves could act. Someone who wouldn't feel guilty for yelling at them to push against exhaustion, but at the same time carefully help each member release all the stress.

Leadership is so much more than what it's cracked up to be. Woohyun has about a quarter of it right.

Woohyun attacking him means Woohyun isn't thinking about his failure anymore. Better for a man to be angry than to be defeated. Sunggyu reaches out and Woohyun guards his neck unsteadily, but Sunggyu's hand rests on the top of Woohyun's head. A moment of softness, a small breath to get in character. An instant of regret that if circumstances were different, maybe he wouldn't have to brush all this fondness aside. "Woohyun-ah. If you don't get your ass into the bathroom right now, I'm putting you on clean-up duty for three months. _Don't push it_."

Woohyun's grin has always been wolfish. "Are you actually growing balls, Loser Gyu?"

"Five months," Sunggyu answers. There's cold steel in his voice. He hates it, but that doesn't matter right now. "And if you're not washing up in the next ten seconds, nobody's done the laundry for the past two weeks."

Woohyun glares at him, but he blinks, his eyes lose focus and he stumbles past Sunggyu to the bathroom. There's a sound of running water in the sink not long after.

Sunggyu lets go of a breath he doesn't realize he’s holding. He straightens the scattered shoes Woohyun knocked off the rack, tosses Woohyun's backpack to the pile of assorted stuff at the corner of the living room, takes a quick glance around to make sure there's no clue left that a fight almost broke out when everyone else is sleeping. Some of the members can be very perceptive. The faucet's still running.

He stops in front of one of the bedrooms. "Go to sleep, Sungyeol."

A small thump from behind the closed door, followed by a quiet, "Yes, hyung. And nothing happened, gotcha." Sunggyu has never been really fond of him, but when it comes to the really important stuff it's always Sungyeol who understands how Sunggyu thinks. Always knows to never skirt around the lines.

Woohyun is out cold, forehead resting against the cool ceramic bathtub. Sunggyu turns the water off, hopes he doesn't throw his back as he carries Woohyun to the bedroom, and wonders when it became so easy to touch Woohyun like this without worrying about getting addicted.

 

 

 

His dreams have never been straightforward. It's the mark of an artist, he keeps telling himself, tiring as it may be to wake up in the morning after dodging rainbow-colored dartboards falling from a silver-tinged sunset.

That night he dreams that he's flying high, surrounded by clouds, huge green-specked leather wings on either side of him. There are arms around his waist. "Let's dive," Woohyun's voice says in his ear, and yeah, he doesn't need to see the face, he _knows_ it's Woohyun. And they're riding on the back of a dragon.

This isn't just exhilaration, this smile on his face. "Hold on tight," Sunggyu shouts over the sound of rushing wind. His heart skips a beat as the wings fold and they shoot for the valley below.

 

 

 

He wakes up exactly three seconds before the opening strains of _The Chaser_ blares from his phone. Conditioning at its most useful.

His alarm used to be Nell for the longest time until he found the courage to kick himself and change it. Woohyun became a lot easier to wake up – or at least a lot less resistant to being woken up – after that little update.

There's the smell of eggs and ramyun wafting through the open door. The other bed is empty. It's no surprise; Woohyun always gets restless, never gets a hangover.

"Hey," Woohyun greets him as he makes his way to the fridge.

It's too early to be coherent. A pat on the back to say good morning. Woohyun isn't meeting his eyes, which is how Sunggyu can tell he's already ashamed even if he may not remember everything.

Sunggyu leans against the fridge and unscrews his bottle of milk. "Don't let it happen again," he says.

Woohyun flinches, covers up for the moment of weakness by pretending that a drop of boiling soup splashed on his forearm. "I won't. I'll practice harder."

"That, too. But I was talking about getting drunk by yourself."

Woohyun turns the stove off, turns to face Sunggyu like a man. "I'm ready for the lecture. Lay it on me." He's serious and remorseful. Sunggyu should commemorate the moment.

Sunggyu reaches out as if to pinch Woohyun's cheek and Woohyun grimaces and holds still, but Sunggyu cups the back of Woohyun's neck instead and brings their foreheads together. This isn't dangerous. He's bound himself with too many locks and chains and gave the keys to someone he can trust. "Don't ever call me Loser Gyu again."

"Hoya keeps calling you that, though."

"Hoya's digging his own grave."

Woohyun laughs. Morning breath, he hasn't brushed his teeth yet. "Is that it? That's the big lecture?"

"You don't need it. You're usually responsible enough."

"So... clean-up duty?"

"Five months." This time Sunggyu _does_ pinch Woohyun's cheeks, much to the latter's protest. "I'm a man of my word."

"If this is a moment," Howon's voice pipes up loudly and Sunggyu doesn't pull away like a child caught with a hand in the cookie jar, "can you not have it in the kitchen? Our food is rotting thanks to all your sweetness."

"Hey, we don't mind what you and Sungjong get up to at night, show some tact," Woohyun shoots back as he returns to serving the pot of noodles.

"He helps me relax," Howon says, his grin all mischief and grease. Woohyun groans and covers his ears. "In fact, he can be very-"

"I don't want to hear it!"

Sunggyu steps out to wake Dongwoo and Myungsoo, and by the time he succeeds and they trail listlessly out of their bedroom everyone else has already gotten into the breakfast rhythm.

"You okay?" Howon asks him quietly half an hour later when Sungyeol's doing the dishes and Sungjong is in the shower.

"Everything's fine," Sunggyu says confidently. He's been expecting the question. Howon doesn't follow up with words but the reproach in his expression is hard to miss. "There's nothing to worry about," Sunggyu assures him. "This won't trigger a relapse."

He turns away quickly. Sungyeol is always paying attention.

 

 

 

Maybe he's more bothered than he thinks.

"Did anything happen last night?" Dongwoo asks him in the hallway. The kids are in the greenroom, the managers aren't too far away, and the coordis are everywhere. They don't have privacy here (or anywhere, really) but sometimes they have to make do with what they can drag up.

Dongwoo has a rose in one hand, an unplanned gift from a fan he ran into on the way back from his break.

"Do you know that flowers die when they're plucked from the plant?" Sunggyu asks as an aside, still deciding whether he want to talk about last night at all. "I don't get why we make gifts out of dead body parts."

Dongwoo breathes out sharply, the only display of annoyance anyone in Infinite ever sees. (Outright anger, of course, is another thing entirely.) He's telling Sunggyu without words that they don't have much time, that he should think fast.

It's not like Sunggyu has a lot of options. "What did you see?"

"There's a patch of dirt on the wall beside Hoya's bedroom door," Dongwoo tells him. "It kind of looks like a shoe print."

Ah. Sunggyu knows he forgot something. "Do you think anyone else saw?" He leans against the wall, resting a back that never really stopped aching.

Dongwoo shakes his head. "If they did, they'd have said something by now. I wiped it off when no one was looking. What happened? If I'm allowed to ask." That last sentence was added hastily, as if he was afraid to encroach even after all these years of being Infinite's emotional pillar. If Sunggyu is the leader of Infinite, then Dongwoo is the heart. There are some things that only Dongwoo could see rightly, essential things invisible to Sunggyu's eyes.

Sunggyu meant it when he said that Woohyun is the only person he would trust to lead Infinite if he himself couldn't, but that's only because he knows Dongwoo would be there to keep Woohyun in line. Dongwoo isn't cut out for leadership. Kingmakers never are.

 _Help me- please-_ That's Woohyun's voice. In Sunggyu's head. From out of nowhere. Echoing and haunting, familiar but at the same time so completely strange. That's Woohyun's voice, but Sunggyu has never heard Woohyun beg for anything before. _I don't know what to do, I don't know if I-_

Sunggyu shakes his head vigorously. The phantom voice fades away. Dongwoo is looking at him as if he’s getting ready to call for a nurse.

There are privacies that only Dongwoo could afford. There are secrets that not even Howon or Woohyun are allowed to hear. A careful glance around them to make sure nobody's listening. All clear. "I think I'm starting to lose my grip," Sunggyu admits.

"You, hyung?" Dongwoo asks, humorously skeptical. Sunggyu is famous for never losing control over himself. "Are you actually doubting yourself now?" That's a joke between the two of them. Dongwoo knows better than anyone that Sunggyu is so filled with self-doubt.

Sunggyu leans closer, speaks softer because admissions like these deserve hushed voices. "Yesterday wasn't the first time Woohyun messed up on stage. He dealt with the other times just fine. Why didn't I see that last night was different? Why didn't I realize he'd sneak out and get drunk?"

Dongwoo nods, searching for something in Sunggyu's eyes. "You said it yourself, though. He dealt with the other times. You're not expected to know every single thing that runs in our heads." He grins dirtily. "I think you should be thankful for that."

That, at least, coaxes out a smile. "I used to be able to," Sunggyu says wistfully. "Even if I didn't know how to keep everyone in line back then. It was nice knowing that hell would break loose before it actually happened."

"I prefer this Sunggyu better." Of course Dongwoo would say that. And of course he'd mean it as well. "I think... it's because Woohyun's forgotten what it's like to fall."

Sunggyu blinks. Once, twice. An uncomfortable tightness in his chest. "Are we-"

"Not that kind of fall," Dongwoo clarifies quickly. "Although who knows? I mean as in falling like... in rock-climbing. The longer it takes you to fall, the higher you climb, the more painful losing your grip and falling becomes."

"I—see." Sunggyu needs to think about it some more but he gets what Dongwoo's trying to say. He sees a manager approaching and gives the man a thumbs-up. They should get going. "His old complex again?"

"Seems like it." Dongwoo shrugs. "He looks up to you. More than he lets on. Sometimes I think he wants to be you."

Sunggyu nods morosely. "Of course. That's the problem, isn't it."

"Huh?" Dongwoo tilts his head. He can be so much like a chicken sometimes.

Sunggyu used to be so good at compartmentalizing, too. None of these mysterious half-statements meant for someone else. But then, keeping secrets is tiring. Sometimes he just wants to let the world know so he can stop keeping facades. But that would be suicide. Some other times he just wants to isolate himself like a dragon in a cave, never posing a threat to anyone. But hah. He wants to be a singer, right? Right. "Nothing." He sighs. Another day, another variety show. "Come on, let's get this over with."

He stands straighter, rolls his shoulders to work the knots out.

"I guess we've all changed," Dongwoo says as they make their way back into the green room. "Grown up in our own little ways. That's why everything's more complicated now."

Dongwoo's words of wisdom rattle through his head the rest of the day.

 

 

 

"Ah, this one's interesting," Wonhee exclaims as she flips a cue card over. Sunggyu stopped feeling excited for things like these two years ago but that doesn't relieve him from the duty of pretending for the cameras. "People always ask who the members would save from a burning building, but here the fan is asking who you _wouldn't_ save."

"Ah, that's very witty," Jaesuk trills. "A small difference in the question but it raises such a different dynamic."

"Who cares," Sunggyu hears Myungsoo mutter beside him. Four years is enough for Myungsoo to perfect how not to be heard when he doesn't want to be. At least, not by anyone who'd make a big deal of it. "It's just a word, not like it changes the scenario or anything."

"Sunggyu-sshi," Wonhee says and Sunggyu focuses on the talk show once more. "As the leader, I know this question puts you on the spot. Would you prefer to answer first or last?"

Nothing is for free, not even in the idol world, and Wonhee-sunbaenim is a veteran talk show host. Her innocent question would make an opening for everyone to rib him if he doesn't answer delicately. "It would put anyone on the spot," Sunggyu answers, all elite and matter-of-fact as if everyone should have thought of that already. "Infinite is a group. We don't leave anyone behind." A beat of silence, timed perfectly through practice. "Unless it's Sungyeol."

"Hyung!" Sungyeol yelps as everyone chuckles.

"Would that be your answer then, Sunggyu-sshi?" Jaesuk presses, an arm pointed dramatically at him. Sunggyu doesn't bother glancing around; he can imagine clearly the incredulous look on Sungyeol's face.

"Ah, no, I was just joking," Sunggyu backtracks. "Sungyeol is very important to Infinite. None of us would leave him behind."

"I would," Hoya mutters, sotto voice, but the mic doesn't catch him.

"Who, then? Who would you leave?"

That wasn't from either of the hosts. Sunggyu turns to see Woohyun watching him intently. He's got that grin again. A wolf that's smelled blood. Woohyun can be so eager sometimes, so ready to poke fun at Sunggyu on camera.

Dongwoo's right. It's the old complex again.

But Sunggyu has learned a thing or two since the last time Woohyun fell. He makes a show of thinking carefully, keeping his eyes narrowed at Woohyun. Misleading the momentum. "I would leave-" Woohyun's grin grows fractionally sharper "-Sungjong."

Freeze.

"I'm not even surprised at this point," Sungjong volunteers, and both the hosts focus on him. "Sunggyu-hyung likes to abuse me. I've stopped trying to understand why."

"Do I need a reason?" Sunggyu shoots back. "Be a good maknae and shut up." Everyone laughs, even Sungjong. "But seriously, if I absolutely have to leave someone behind in a burning building – not that I ever would – it would be Sungjong."

"We heard your answer the first time," Wonhee says, still laughing.

"But with your vehemence, I think now you have to explain why," Jaesuk adds. There's a reason why almost all the idols love Yoo Jaesuk. He just knows when someone needs to defend themselves and he gives them that chance.

"Even if I don't show it, Lee Sungjong is actually one of my favorite dongsaengs," Sunggyu announces, which really does quiet Sungjong quickly. "He still acts cute most of the time but he's grown to be a very independent man. The reason why I can leave him behind is because, of all of Infinite, he's the one person I know who won't need my help to escape a burning building without getting hurt."

"Wow." That was from Myungsoo. He leans in closer, a private whisper. "Hyung, that's actually pretty deep-"

But Woohyun drowns him out. "Our leader has always been very eloquent when he wants to be." That's not new either; Woohyun knows how to enter another person's spotlight.

"How about you, Woohyun-sshi," Dongwoo asks, speaking up for the first time. "Who would you leave behind?"

"That's obvious, hyung," Woohyun answers, turning to blind the cameras with a perfectly practiced smile. "I'll leave Sunggyu. That way, I can be the leader."

Cue laughter, cue good-natured ribbing from everyone, cue Wonhee and Jaesuk pouncing on the opening.

Cue Sunggyu catching Dongwoo's eyes, both of them thinking the same thing.

 

 

 

There's this feeling of being followed. This feeling of someone watching every move, someone staying carefully out of sight. There's this nagging itch at the back of Sunggyu's mind, primal instincts screaming that he's not as alone as he thinks, that silence in the trees doesn't mean the forest is empty.

The night sky is clear, crisp starlight filtering through the canopy, and Sunggyu quietly takes stock of his surroundings. He notes every shadow in the woods, pays attention to the shapes and shades and the river's gentle flow before him, tempers his fight or flight with a third option of calling for help.

There's a hunter afoot but Sunggyu has dealt with hunters before. He listens quietly.

He has friends in the forest, too, and one of them is already hiding in the darker patch of black on the nearby willow trunk. This hunter, whatever it is, picked the wrong prey-

"Hyung?"

Sunggyu turns his head quickly.

Sungjong is standing by the restroom door, lips halfway between a smirk and an irritated frown. Like he's been calling for Sunggyu on repeat. "Everyone's waiting in the van. Are you ready?"

Right. Sunggyu looks around himself. The restroom is empty. The cubicle doors are all partly open, the exhaust fan is pumping away loudly. Sunggyu has one hand under the faucet. He blinks.

Right. "I'll be out shortly," he says, wetting both hands just for something to do. What was he thinking of again? He stares at the mirror, stares at his face, stares at how... _fresh_ he looks despite the bone-deep exhaustion he feels almost every day. The miracles of makeup.

"I'll wait for you, hyung." Sungjong leans against the wall and crosses his arms, perfectly relaxed.

Sunggyu takes deep breaths. The youngest is waiting for him. There is no excuse for any lapse of attention. _Get a grip._ "Come on," he says and leads the way out.

There's a new closeness between them. Sunggyu can feel it in how Sungjong walks beside him, not submissive but companionable. Quiet not because he doesn't want to speak out of turn but because if Sunggyu wants to talk then he's willing to listen, but if they don't talk then that's fine too.

"Sungjongie."

They stop at the door to the underground parking spaces.

"One day you're going to outgrow even me," Sunggyu tells him. "And as your hyung? I can't wait for it to happen. I can't wait to see the man you'll become."

Sungjong fights his smile from growing too wide. "It won't be for a while yet, hyung."

Sunggyu flicks a finger against Sungjong's forehead and the latter flinches in surprise. "Obviously." He laughs at Sungjong's indignant squawk.

They board the van to everyone else's impatient jeering.

 

 

 

"I was just joking," Woohyun tells him as soon as they're alone in their room.

"I know," Sunggyu answers patiently.

"You know I would never abandon you in a burning building, or a shipwreck, or a deserted island," Woohyun insists. "It was all for the show."

Sunggyu rolls his eyes. "Like I just said, _I know_." It's the typical Woohyun defense mechanism cycle: admit an uncomfortable opinion, laugh it off, reiterate the opinion in different forms, talk to the person and insist that it was a joke. And the thing is, to Woohyun it _is_ just a joke. Mostly.

But some jokes have to be taken seriously.

"The kids listen to you as much as they listen to me," Sunggyu says offhand as he peels his shirt off and tosses it to the laundry hamper. The clothes are piling up. He should delegate. Or appoint someone. Or if he waits another two days, Sungyeol seems due for another screw up... "And you kept the group together just fine when I was promoting."

"That was borrowed authority, though." Woohyun's shirt gets tossed atop the pile, followed by pants and smelly socks. Sunggyu very carefully doesn't turn around. Some locks are easy to pick, some relapses are easy to trigger. "Everyone was just putting up with me until you came back."

"Stop selling yourself short."

"But it's true! I'd tell them to do something and they'd laugh at me right away."

"They do that all the time," Sunggyu points out. " _You_ laugh the hardest."

"But we follow you anyway." Silence while Woohyun climbs into his favorite (only?) sleeping attire, those ratty cargo shorts and that sleeveless, neckless hoodie. Sunggyu looks at him again only after they're both fully dressed (in a manner of speaking). "Sometimes I wonder how the group would be if I were the leader. As in the real leader, not just a member standing in for you. But I stop wondering fast because I'd never be able to handle the pressure as well as you do. Did you know I had to bribe Hoya to do the groceries? Twice? And I still owe Dongwoo for feeding the kids when my taping ran late that one time."

"Hey, at least you got the job done, that's what counts for a leader. So you'll do just fine," Sunggyu says. He throws himself face down on his bed and relishes the cool of the sheets against his skin. "Although leaders don't get paid extra. Keep that in mind. Now you see why I resort to slave-driving."

A moment of quiet. Sunggyu lifts his head to see Woohyun biting his lip guiltily. "Did I say that last night?"

"Hey, it's no big deal." Sunggyu sits up and pats the space of bed beside him, and Woohyun sits obediently. Good boy. "You were drunk. You've done worse, little boy."

Woohyun snarls at him. "I was this close to apologizing, you ass, thank you for disillusioning me in time." But he slings an arm around Sunggyu's shoulders and pulls tight, and Sunggyu allows himself to breathe deep and return the pressure.

This is one of the concessions he allows himself, one of the moments he doesn't bind and lock. Woohyun hugs like he wants to take all the sadness away from Sunggyu and into himself.

Woohyun's presence could intoxicate him. Woohyun should be illegal, but unfortunately the world doesn't work according to Sunggyu's whims.

"Are we actually having a moment?" Woohyun asks him a little breathlessly. Sunggyu eases the pressure.

"By some miracle, I guess."

Woohyun laughs nervously. The smile on his lips is tentative. Like he's not sure if he should say what's on his mind. But he does, anyway. He's Woohyun. "I kind of miss it." He punches Sunggyu's shoulder lightly. "We stopped having moments some time ago. I don't know why. But I guess it just happens."

Sunggyu has had a lot of practice in keeping his expressions misleading. The one he throws on now is dismissive. "Get some sleep. You're turning sentimental. That's just gross."

Woohyun scowls at him, but he climbs into his bed and throws his comforter over himself. "Thanks for putting up with me, Leader Gyu," he intones from under the covers.

" _Go to sleep._ "

It's easy to find more chains, more locks, more keys to hand to Howon for safekeeping. Over the years, Sunggyu has gotten very good at telling himself no.

 

 

 

"An abandoned warehouse? Are we _that_ low on production budget?"

Sungjong probably doesn't mean it but it elicits knowing groans from almost the rest of the group. Myungsoo is eyeing the building with worry for their safety plainly visible on his face, and Howon has that look he gets when he's telling himself that everything's cool, everything's fine, nothing here to worry about. Woohyun's expression is of being severely unimpressed. Sungyeol's eyes are narrowed.

Dongwoo, on the other hand, lights up with excitement.

"I don't know what everyone's so worried about," Dongwoo says loudly, grinning widely. "We'll be filming in a genuine abandoned warehouse. Can you imagine how bad-ass our image is going to be?"

"I'm sure it's safe. I'm sure they made sure it's safe." That's Myungsoo trying to convince himself.

"Come on," Sunggyu tells everyone gruffly. "Hyoan-hyung's on the phone to rearrange the rest of our schedules, we don't have to wait for him."

"You first, hyung," Woohyun teases.

Sunggyu rolls his eyes and leads the way.

It's not as bad as they think. On one hand, the production team has already cleared out most of the junk, the air is thick with fresheners, glorified tents have been erected to act as changing rooms or rest lounges, and the crew is all over the place. On the other hand, even the industrial air coolers can't do much with all this heat, the team isn't as large as they expect and there's noise everywhere.

"So we'll only be doing the cut sequences here," Sunggyu tells the group when he returns from meeting the director. "We'll still shoot most of the show in the studios where they have some of it set to look trashed but we still need scenes where we're running around trying to shoot each other."

"I guess this means we should get familiar with the place?" Woohyun asks lazily from his beanbag with an innocent smile on his face.

Sunggyu wonders why Woohyun even tries to act innocent these days. Whenever he does, everyone already knows he's already up to no good. "If you're asking for permission to wander of, I'm not giving it to you."

"That's cool," Woohyun says as if it doesn't bother him at all, leans back again and tries to take a nap.

Belatedly, it occurs to Sunggyu to count the members. "Five. Where are-" he narrows his eyes "-six and seven?"

Sungjong glares at him reproachfully. " _Sungyeol_ -hyung and _Myungsoo_ -hyung are out taking pictures," he says as if Sunggyu should have figured it out by himself.

"I really should make it a rule to disallow Myungsoo from bringing that camera everywhere," Sunggyu huffs, irritated. Dongwoo raises his eyebrows. "Not that he'll listen. But it would make me feel better, damn it." He checks his watch. "They'd better be back in ten minutes."

Howon looks up from his DS. "I thought we weren't starting until an hour?" He looks around, lost. "Did anyone change the schedule without telling me again? Come on, guys, I thought our prank days were over." But nobody looks at him.

"Ten minutes," Sunggyu deadpans. Dongwoo, ever the best bandmate, bless him, pulls out his phone. Everybody else goes back to what they were doing.

Woohyun pushes himself up and manhandles Sunggyu out of their tent. "Come on Leader-Gyu, blow off some steam. Let's go look for them ourselves."

"You just want an excuse to wander off," Sunggyu grouses as they walk away from the crowd.

"It's not wandering off if I have the leader with me!"

Well. There's no arguing with logic like that.

Woohyun has this knack for finding deserted rooms even in places where there should be people everywhere. "They're not here," Sunggyu observes flatly when Woohyun pushes him past an empty door arch.

"Your powers for observation never fail to astound me, Gyu." Woohyun leads him to the center of the room and thumps his back rhythmically. "Relax, learn to have fun, stop and appreciate the smell of moldy wood and industrial disinfectant!" Woohyun breathes deep and Sunggyu admires how he plasters a smile on his face, fake and determinedly cheesy though it was. "This place has great ambience, by the way, we should get the designers' contact numbers."

"You're crazy," Sunggyu opines. He pushes Woohyun away and orients himself with... wherever they are. Not that there's much to notice apart from the water damage on the walls or the chipped paint and the rusty pipes running down the corner. The crew clearly had no intentions of shooting here.

Woohyun has his phone in his hands and is basically acting like Myungsoo-lite. "This place is so rustic. How is it that I'm rocking the black and white filter for the first time?" He's taking a forced perspective picture of a rusty chair.

Sunggyu shakes his head sadly. Sometimes, all he can do is wonder why, of all the people in the world, it has to be Woohyun.

Maybe Sunggyu has issues with quality. That could explain things.

A string of spray-painted western letters catches his eye at a far corner of the room. Which is odd because even though the walls are dirty with grime, there isn't actually any evidence of vandalism anywhere else.

It's only when he's closer that he notices the jagged lines drawn on the wall beside the letters. Lines drawn with charcoal. A large rectangle.

Like someone wanted to draw a door.

 _toque un universo paralelo_ , the letters say.

Sunggyu may not have mastered English (not that it's in English anyway even if it uses the same characters) but he's read enough books to at least be able to form an educated guess.

This would make a _great_ concept photo.

"Hey Woohyun!" he calls out to where Woohyun is absorbed in framing a shot of a broken light bulb on the floor. "Take a picture of me and this-" but he doesn't get to finish his request because the instant he touches the wall the floor below him collapses and he's falling-

he hears Woohyun call out " _Gyu!_ ", alarmed and surprised, no time to be worried-

falling-

the sensation of being strapped to a roller coaster just after it crests the top of an arc, gathering momentum as it plummets down an underground track-

and lands on soft ground-

And when he blinks his vision and feelings clear, he's flat on his back and he feels grass tickling his skin and a tree looms above him like he just fell off one of the branches and it's a lot darker than he-

He struggles to sit up. There are trees _everywhere_. And there's grass and earth between his fingers, never mind that he fell through the floor of an abandoned warehouse in the middle of the city.

And the sky is littered with way more stars than Sunggyu has ever seen in his life.

He catches a blur of movement from the corner of his eye. He turns his head just in time to see someone who looks eerily like Sungyeol reaching for his forehead, there's a flash of blue light, and-

And after that, Sunggyu doesn't know anything more.

 

 

"I don't care what he is. He came up from out of nowhere and appeared right inside Sungjong's enchantments, meaning he bypassed our defenses without us knowing any better." Howon's voice pauses, then pitches lower as if daring someone to disagree with him. "Go on, tell me that isn't dangerous."

Sunggyu's eyes are closed, his head feels like it's been filled with cotton, his back is propped against something that feels like rough tree bark, his wrists have been bound, and Howon sounds like he's ultimately pissed off. This is not a good combination of events.

"There's more than one interpretation to that, Howon," Sungjong says. And that's strange, Sunggyu thinks, because Sungjong is speaking so casually; he always calls Howon 'hyung'. "Protective magic isn't straightforward. Not even mine."

Howon snorts. "That's not true and you know it."

"Sungyeol?" Dongwoo's voice this time.

"I stand by what I said," Sungyeol insists. "His mind is human. Even if it's filled with things I've never seen before."

"I'm not doubting that he's human." Howon, hard as it may be to believe, almost always manages to keep his calm through most situations. Hearing him riled up like this is raising so many warning flags in Sunggyu's head. "I'm saying he's a risk and we should deal with him accordingly."

Sunggyu narrowly opens an eye. No matter how many times he complains about his eyes, they can be quite useful for pretending that he's still asleep. It's still dark and the world looks so blurry through his eyelashes but-

"He's awake, by the way," Sungyeol tells the group as an aside. "For a few minutes now."

 _Damn it_ why is Sungyeol always paying attention-

"I'll take care of it," Howon says, reaching behind him. Sunggyu opens his eyes fully just in time to watch Howon – in perfect clarity – draw a...

A sword. _Really?_ Sunggyu's mind wonders all by itself in that time-elapsed moment that comes with disbelief. _When did this happen? Howon has a_ sword _and nobody bothered to tell me? Garbage duty for three months-_

"Howon," Sungjong cautions warily. "Woohyun isn't here. He should at least have a say in this."

Howon raises his sword ( _is that thing even real?_ Sunggyu's mind asks him, not feeling the fear that Sunggyu is sure should be flooding him right now). "Tell the leader that I'm calling this an act of personal sovereignty," Howon says grimly.

 _Leader...?_ The word echoes in Sunggyu's head.

"Hoya," Sunggyu croaks and _there's_ the fear crawling all over his skin like ants. "What the hell-"

A flicker of surprise crosses Howon's face when he hears his name, but he steels his resolve and tightens his grip on his sword. The blade flashes white and leaves an arc of light as he swings down right at Sunggyu's head-

A feeling of cold wind chilling Sunggyu's entire body at once-

A flash of black even though he's sure he didn't blink-

"No," Myungsoo's voice says from right behind Sunggyu's ear. "Woohyun should have a say in this."

It takes Sunggyu a second to process that he's no longer leaning against rough bark, that it's Myungsoo behind him, Myungsoo's hands gripping his shoulders tightly, and that a humanoid figure made entirely of fire is gripping Howon's sword by the blade an inch away from where Sunggyu's head used to be.

Howon's expression darkens further. Faster than Sunggyu's eyes can follow, Howon draws another sword and slashes through the fire, which disperses and draws a soft wince from Dongwoo. "How do you know that name?" Howon whispers, and if Sunggyu thinks he was pissed off before that's nothing compared to how Howon sounds now. The light from his first sword turns from pale white to burning red.

Sungyeol rises from the rock he's sitting on to stand between Howon and Sunggyu. "I'm with Myungsoo and Dongwoo on this. Let's not be hasty."

"It's three on one, Howon," Dongwoo urges quietly. "Sungjong won't vote against you but you know he doesn't agree with you either. Please listen to us."

They hear footsteps approaching from somewhere in the trees. "What are you guys up to?" a new voice asks with forced pleasantness.

Sunggyu isn't surprised to see who it is, finds that he's been expecting it all this time. After all, _everything_ has gone crazy up to now so why not go crazy all the way?

"We just got infiltrated while you were sleeping," Howon answers.

"We don't know that for sure," Dongwoo adds quickly.

There's still sleep in Woohyun's eyes, but Sunggyu can see the sharpness behind them quickly catching up. "And who's that?" he asks with a nod at Sunggyu.

Everyone shoots quick looks at each other until, eventually, all eyes are on Sungyeol.

"Well?" Woohyun asks impatiently. The way they all carefully keep their expressions blank (especially Sungjong) speaks volumes of second-hand embarrassment to Sunggyu.

"He's human," Sungyeol says after a moment of thought. "That's the best I can say. I can see his mind but it's all strange to me. It's not like anything I've seen before. The shape is human but also definitely not from this world."

Howon snorts derisively and sheathes both his swords. "That doesn't count for anything. Not all humans are on our side these days. He could have been affected. And Sungyeol found him when he was already inside Sungjong's protection."

That wakes Woohyun up fully.

"There's more than one interpretation to that," Sungjong says like he's reminding everyone of something important. "He could have sneaked past my enchantments as Howon thinks, or maybe he's no danger at all so my walls didn't stop him."

"Isn't anyone going to ask what _I_ think?" Sunggyu finally snaps. "Because I woke up in the middle of nowhere and someone just tried to cut my head off. I deserve _some_ context, don't you think?" 

Brief silence while everyone looks surprised, followed by Dongwoo trying to contain a snort and Myungsoo chuckling like Sunggyu just made a joke of everyone.

"Oh look, it can speak!" Woohyun teases. "Sungjong, can you make sure he isn't a threat?"

"That's what I was doing," Howon mutters loudly.

"While keeping him intact, I mean," Woohyun clarifies. "No hacking off limbs or anything irreversible."

"I have something that could work," Sungjong says contemplatively.

"Then let's get going," Woohyun says. "It's almost daylight. I don't want to waste an hour fighting about this; we have a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time to do it. Let's pack up camp and make sure no one else managed to sneak up on us, okay?"   
Howon rolls his eyes and grumbles as he leaves. Dongwoo jogs to catch up with him, slinging an arm across Howon's back and bowing his head to talk privately.

But Woohyun isn't over yet. "Sungyeol and Myungsoo, the two of you are in charge of this guy – what's your name, anyway?"

"Sunggyu," says Sunggyu. That, at least, settles the question of whether Sunggyu has a counterpart here.

"I can't exactly welcome you aboard yet, Sunggyu," Woohyun says with a wink and Sunggyu wonders why even this Woohyun can be so greasy even at the most inopportune moments. "But we've got our eyes on you so don't cause any trouble."

"Gee, thanks for doing me a favor," Sunggyu sneers.

"Don't thank me, I could still change my mind. Now keep quiet while Sungjong works his magic on you, if you think Howon's hot-headed then Sungjong can show you why we're all more afraid of him."

"Whatever," Sungjong grumbles like Woohyun just embarrassed him. His eyes glow white, mutters a few words beneath his breath, and Sunggyu feels invisible ropes coil tightly all over his body. "The tight feeling will fade in a few minutes. It's a passive pacifism aura," he explains. "Should stop you from attacking anyone. Not that I think you're going to attack us, and not that you're dangerous or anything, but our leader seems to think it's called for."

"Just as a precaution," Woohyun says with a grin. "Now come on, you've wasted enough of our time as it is."

 

 

 

They don't move like Sunggyu's Infinite. That's the first thing Sunggyu notices. Then he reminds himself that they _aren't_ Infinite at all, there's no point in comparing.

But.

The way Woohyun confidently struts at the front, leading the way as if he knows exactly how to get where they need to go with that half-smirk that seems permanently etched on his face. Dongwoo's excited acceptance of everything Woohyun says, approval and support unspoken in everything he does... except that his eyes are set in a sense of quiet guardedness, that slight quirk in his eyebrows that Sunggyu has learned to pay attention to after years of being in each other's confidence.

Myungsoo's presence to his left does not make a single sound and it's so easy to forget that he's there, except that he's Myungsoo and he has a way of catching everyone's attention even if he doesn't do anything for it. And on Sunggyu's other side, Sungyeol, the observer, the watcher, the one who knows everything that's going on, the one who never stops paying attention.

Sungjong is chattering away carelessly at Howon, those two forming a little clique of their own even without meaning to. Howon's approach to life is to focus on one thing at a time and Sungjong loves being attended to, which is a drastic oversimplification of things but it can't be helped because the leather thong is seriously chafing Sunggyu's wrists.

They're people who look like Infinite, but they're not Infinite.

"For people who freak out about getting ambushed earlier, you don't seem so worried about being snuck up on now," Sunggyu says drily.

"It's daytime," Myungsoo answers as if that explains everything. Sungyeol opens his mouth to add more detail but he's cut off by an announcement from the front of the group.

"We're about a day's trek away from the Giltleaf Castle," Woohyun tells them all. Everyone stops in their tracks. "The elves are all dead-"

"Good riddance," Myungsoo mutters under his breath.

"-so the place should be abandoned, but that only means it's no longer elves living there. It could have been infested by other things for all we know. Elven life magic grows unstable without anything to keep it in check."

"Well," Sungjong intones. "That's ominous."

"At least the elves and the fairies hated each other," Sungyeol adds. "Even if the elves are gone, the fairies still won't be able to enter their territory."

"That's one night we can have to sleep, at least." Howon stretches his back like even the thought of peace and quiet can relax him.

"That's the wrong way to think about it," Woohyun chastises him sharply, and Howon tilts his head. "The fairies are dangerous but there could be other dangers. Don't forget what their magic can do."

"How could I forget what their magic can do?" Howon asks coldly. Sungjong lays a calming hand on his shoulders.

The tension in the air is as palpable as it's surprising, Sunggyu can feel the whiplash of the sudden change of mood. Howon looks like he's ready to draw swords again and the only thing stopping him is Sungjong's quiet request for calm, whereas Woohyun looks like he wants to backtrack his words but there's this little thing called pride which isn't so little because it's Woohyun's.

Loud clapping from the side. "Come on, that's still a day away!" Dongwoo grins like he doesn't have a care in the world. "Let's worry about what we'll find there when we're actually _there_. Okay?"

"I'm fine with that," Sungjong agrees immediately. Peacemaker. Myungsoo nods right after.

"You'll have each other's backs, though," Sunggyu says, and everyone turns to look surprised at him. Leadership, like any other habit, can be so ingrained that it becomes second nature. "Even if it's dangerous. That's why you're a group. Right?"

Nobody answers him, but Woohyun's looking at him fondly and Dongwoo is deep in thought. Sungjong flashes Sunggyu a brief smile. Small victories at first.

They resume walking, but Sungjong's chatter is more subdued and Woohyun isn't talking anymore. Amazing how much can change in a single moment.

"We're entering elven territory," Sungyeol explains from out of the blue. "They... didn't leave happy memories behind. They weren't as bad as the fairies, but they were close enough."

"I guessed as much," Sunggyu says, glad that someone's finally speaking to him.

"Even the demons didn't give us this much trouble," Myungsoo adds. Sungyeol looks surprised that Myungsoo is apparently capable of speaking more than two words at a time.

Sunggyu looks around them to see if anyone else is listening. Not that he's hiding their conversation. Except that Sungyeol and Myungsoo have both been so quiet since they found him, have both been by themselves and now that they're talking Sunggyu doesn't really want any of the louder ones steamrolling all over the conversation. "What happened to the elves?"

Myungsoo's expression darkens visibly. Exactly like the one back home. "The fairies happened," Myungsoo tells him. "The fairies happened to everyone. The elves were just among the first they got to. It was. Brutal."

"The elves were good enough in keeping fairies away," says Sungyeol. "But fairy magic works differently from how any of us thought magic could ever be used. None of the tribes knew what to expect. By the time we humans found out how to fight back, it was too late. The elves had fallen, not that we minded that because the elves were also pretty bad. But the kithkin? They were a big loss. And the kor, they were useful. Their aura magic was unique."

Myungsoo looks thoughtful at that. "I think Sungjong managed to learn a few things from them, though. I know some of his auras aren't human-made."

Sunggyu has no idea what Sungyeol is referring to for most of that speech. Kithkin? Kor? Aura magic? "I always thought elves were nice. Where I'm from, elves... well, nobody really believes in elves anymore, but the stories always showed them as- I don't know, beautiful? Allies to humans, at least." The truth is that the only exposure Sunggyu has to elves is watching Lord of the Rings. Arwen is very pretty and Legolas is kind of cool, and that's pretty much all Sunggyu knows about them.

"I'm not surprised about that." Sungyeol sniffs disdainfully. "Elves and their glamour. The world's better off without them."

Myungsoo's laughter is cynical. And yeah, it sounds like Sunggyu's Myungsoo, too. "At least when a demon screws you over, they don't mess with your mind so you think it's for your own good."

"I'll take demons over elves," Sungyeol says softly. Myungsoo solemnly nods. "But I'll take elves over fairies anytime. I'll take anything over fairies."

His fear is catching. One of the things Sunggyu trained himself to do during their earlier days is to pay close attention Sungyeol. The others, even Myungsoo, were very open with saying what they wanted to say, even when Sunggyu wasn't ready to hear it. But not Sungyeol.

It grated Sunggyu's nerves at first, how Sungyeol could pretend to be so open to everyone without ever really saying important things. By the time Sunggyu learned to accept it, they'd already defined their relationship as each other's least favorite person.

But Sungyeol always pays attention, always knows what's going on even if he never says a thing.

It was a while before Sunggyu learned to trust someone who didn't tell him everything.

And if the small things about Infinite are true about the people Sunggyu finds himself with now, maybe the bigger things are as well.

Which can only mean one thing: the fairies, whatever they are, must be very _bad_.

 

 

 

They stop abruptly when Woohyun raises a fist. Howon and Sungjong draw their swords without saying a word, no trace of their earlier lightheartedness anywhere. Sunggyu just wishes his hands are free.

"Blood in the air," Woohyun says, scrunching his nose. "Sungyeol?"

"I don't sense anything strange." Sungyeol's eyes are glowing blue. "Just... typical forest creatures. No other mind in the area, just ours."

Woohyun's acknowledgement is terse. "We should be safe, sunset is still several hours away."

"Still better to proceed with caution," is Dongwoo's advice. "Is it human blood?"

"I can't tell, my nose isn't that sharp. We can just ignore it; it's not directly in our way."

"Or we can check if there are any survivors," Sungjong says quietly. But they all know Sungjong means something else. Sungyeol already confirmed that there's nobody alive.

Woohyun is quiet for a while, watching a tree blankly as he makes a decision.

"Myungsoo, watch over Sunggyu," he orders. "The rest of us, we look for anyone who needs whatever help we can give."

The last thing Sunggyu hears is Howon muttering something like 'should have brought a shovel'.

"I've got you, don't worry," Myungsoo tells Sunggyu bracingly. "Sungyeol's mind magic is excellent for scouting. But I'm still more than enough to make sure we're safe."

Sunggyu stares at him. "I thought you're supposed to keep me in check, not to act as my bodyguard."

Myungsoo blinks twice then realizes that Sunggyu is right. "Well. That's true. But Sungjong's magic is keeping you bound anyway so I might as well make sure you don't get hurt, right?"

"Can you tell me what's happening?" Sunggyu asks. He leans against a tree with smooth bark and slides down to sit on the ground. Myungsoo sits beside him. "Sungyeol just said there isn't anyone else alive here. So why bother checking?"

"Sungyeol can find minds," Myungsoo clarifies, "but he can't necessarily detect life. So you're probably right that there's nobody there to save. But. See, fairies don't always kill people. There's space between being alive and having a functional mind. And fairies have very specific methods for destroying only what they don't want. Sometimes they have reasons for keeping bodies alive."

That's some horror right there. "So when Woohyun said help, he means..."

Myungsoo is a master of keeping his expression blank. "He means whatever help they can give."

Sunggyu shivers. Myungsoo bumps his fist lightly against Sunggyu's knee. If this were Infinite's Myungsoo there would already be hugging and warmth-leeching going on, but the difference in action is only in intensity: this Myungsoo still needs contact, no matter how brief, to remind himself (or maybe both of them) that there is still humanity around, even if it's just in them.

"Why are you guys so scared of the night?" Sunggyu asks to lead his mind elsewhere, and hey he might as well find answers to a few things. "I mean, is it vampires? Are vampires a thing in this world?"

"Vampires!" It draws a laugh from Myungsoo like it's the best joke he's hear d in a while. "Come on, everybody knows vampires don't exist anymore. We killed the last bloodchief years ago. Sungjong doesn't want to talk about it but it was his magic that made it all even possible. Vampires aren't really that strong but they can stick to life like _damn_."

"Wow. Really? Sungjongie?"

Myungsoo glances quizzically at him. "Sungjongie?" he repeats.

"Oh. Haha." Sunggyu bows his head, embarrassed. "That's what I call him. Where I'm from."

"Wait." Myungsoo's expression grows serious. "You know him? He exists in your world?"

"Yeah. All of you, actually." Sunggyu supposes that the flood of nostalgia is expected, the wave of _missing_ everyone back home even if he hasn't even been gone for a day, even if there are versions of them around him, even Myungsoo and his stupid face. "We all live together. I'm the oldest and Sungjong is the youngest, so everyone bullies the two of us."

"Sungjong gets _bullied_?" Myungsoo asks, humor and disbelief dawning on every line of his face. "Sungjong? As in hero-of-the-vampire-wars Sungjong?"

"Well. He hasn't been in any war in my world," Sunggyu says delicately. "But he's a pretty tough guy even there."

"I guess some things are constant across worlds," Myungsoo sniffs. "What about me? What am I like in your world?"

"Still as vain as you are here," Sunggyu teases and Myungsoo grins readily. Sunggyu bumps his shoulders against Myungsoo's, a severe toning down of the hair ruffling Sunggyu normally gives their vainest member, dragged by the momentum of half a decade of habits before he realizes that maybe this Myungsoo- but Myungsoo is surprised yet smiling, not affronted at all. Maybe all the Myungsoos everywhere communicate best through physical contact. "There's no point in comparing. The two of you are different. We even call you different names. My Myungsoo goes by 'L' because of our job."

"'L'?" Myungsoo asks, brow furrowed. "That's strange. I used to be known as L in this world, too. Sometimes Howon still calls me that but I just ignore him. I'm not that person anymore."

"Who was L, then?" Sunggyu asks, curious about how worlds still seem to intersect despite the sheer fundamental differences that keep them apart.

"L is just me in the past," Myungsoo says dismissively. "That was how Howon and I met. I guess he still hasn't fully adjusted to the fact that I'm a different person now."

"He doesn't seem mad at you," Sunggyu offers. "It looks like he's more concerned with Sungjong than he is of you. If he's anything like my Howon, he's a lot more open to change than he lets on."

"Yeah, change," Myungsoo sighs wistfully. He reaches behind Sunggyu and plucks a wildflower from its stem, a tiny purple thing of spindly petals that look ubiquitous everywhere. Forest weeds, something that won't look out of place even in Sunggyu's world. "People used to like having flowers everywhere. Gardens back in my village used to be so colorful. But flowers are important for fairies to breed in so everyone sanitized their gardens and kept only the plants that fairies don't use. Now they all look so plain. It's sad, I like flowers a lot."

"So why did you pick this one?" Sunggyu asks, more for conversation than actual curiosity. His Myungsoo is always full of ideas that only Sungyeol gets to hear, but maybe this is Sunggyu's chance in more than a few ways. Myungsoo, self-taught in many secret talents, has insights ranging from naïve to piercing.

"Flowers die when you pick them," Myungsoo says solemnly. He breathes at the sprig in his hand until it withers and grays right in front of Sunggyu's eyes. "So what if I like dead things more?"

Not that that's creepy or anything, but he's heard Myungsoo say weirder things.

Whatever the rest leave to investigate must not have been so perplexing. "You guys ready to go?" Woohyun asks as soon as they return.

"What did you guys find?" Sunggyu asks. But he knows that if the group is going to keep secrets, the weak link will never be Woohyun. Instead, he pays close attention to Dongwoo. "Anything good?"

And it's in the way Dongwoo's face crumples before he fakes his cheer that Sunggyu understands he probably shouldn't dig any deeper. "Just evidence of fairies being fairies," he says breezily. Sunggyu isn't fooled. Another intersection between worlds: Dongwoo is too honest to ever deceive anyone, even if he wants to.

Everyone else looks so decidedly neutral. But there's no fooling a leader who has been relying on group dynamics to keep his members in line.

 

 

 

They can see the castle from where they stop, just half an hour's walk away. The towers are painted red with oncoming sunset light but the crenellations glitter too brightly to be normal.

"The Giltleaf Elves could make trees grow golden leaves, and they used the gold to adorn almost everything they could think of," Woohyun tells Sunggyu academically. "That castle was the elves' last stronghold. It's overflowing with elven enchantments specifically designed to keep fairies away. The lives of elves are long but their memories are longer. Even after their death, their magic doesn't desert their homes."

"So how did they die?" Sunggyu asks. It's no longer just academic interest this time. He may have a lot of shortcomings but not being able to accept new realities is not one of them.

They freed Sunggyu's hands back when they accepted that maybe he's kind of harmless after all.

"They withstood the fairy sieges long enough," Sungjong joins the discussion while everyone else rests aching feet. "Magic kept the fairies away. And what elven magic failed to repel their bows and arrows dispatched swiftly."

"It didn't last long, though," Woohyun added. "The impasse stood for a week, I think?" Sungjong nodded. "Then the fairies changed the game."

"The Great Aurora," Sungjong tells him grimly. "The spell that removes any peaceful instinct in non-fairies. As a tribe, the fairies learned how to live on the natural magic that the land produces. Every other tribe – even us – could draw power from the earth and use it to cast spells but the fairies are the only ones who ever managed to tune their mana with the land itself. Imagine it. A single tribe that can tame all of magic. That development allowed them to change the nature of every single creature in the world."

"The elves never knew what hit them," Woohyun says darkly. "One day they were united in their castle, defending their ground flawlessly. Then the fairies cast their spell and suddenly the elves were killing each other right within their own stronghold. In the end, the fairies didn't have to kill them. That's what happened to a lot of the tribes. And the fairies would have taken over everything if the human council hadn't managed to stop the spell from spreading using the Veil."

"Veil?" Sunggyu asks.

Woohyun waved Sunggyu's question away as if the name didn't mean anything. "Massive barrier spell that stops fairy magic from spreading even if it doesn't actually keep the fairies in. It's a hallmark of great magic if you want to look at it that way: the fairies have their Great Aurora, we have the Veil. Some of the Aurora still leaks into the surrounding area, though, but it's weak enough that it dispels during the day.

"So this is the new impasse. The world is separated into three zones: there's the world outside the Great Aurora where all the tribes are creating their own vaccines against fairy changeling magic. Then there's the area we're in now where the council's magic rules during the day but fairy magic takes over every night. And there's the Glen Elendra, the fairies' home, where their magic is at its strongest night and day."

"The fairies didn't kill all the tribes their magic caught, though," Sungjong whispers with a tiny shiver in his voice. "Once some of the tribes were weakened, the fairies enslaved them. And every night the Aurora turns those survivors into minions of the fairies themselves." He looks around them to make sure no one is listening in, relaxes when he sees Howon far away, laughing animatedly with Dongwoo as they relax aching feet. "The council wasn't able to save Howon's village. The only reason he survived is because we were hunting rabid werewolves outside the Aurora when it happened. So if you think he's full of anger... just know that there's a reason behind it. He's a lot less vengeful now, thankfully, but there's still a lot to work through. I think learning some of my magic did wonders for his peace of mind."

They hear shuffling footsteps approach and they turn to see Sungyeol draw level with them, his face tilted upward to catch the last rays of the sun. "What's the plan now, great leader?"

Woohyun's expression turns serious. "Let's set up camp here. I know the Giltleaf Castle looks inviting but that place is lousy with the elves' memories. There's no telling what we'll run into. I mean, the elves didn't hate us as much as they hated the fairies, that's true, but elves were still a vicious tribe over all. I don't want to have traveled this far only to be killed in my sleep by persistent nightmares."

"That makes sense," Sungjong says. "I'll cast the walls now. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Walls?" Sunggyu asks. So many new things to understand in this world, so many familiar words that don't make sense in context.

"Sungjong specializes in protection," Sungyeol says. "He can defend entire areas by surrounding them with walls of magic. Sort of like smaller versions of the Veil. So far, you're the only one who ever managed to breach his defenses."

"Which is why everyone was so alarmed when you showed up," Woohyun adds with his wolfish grin. "Sungjong didn't look too disturbed but I know deep inside he's berating himself to find out what he overlooked. But you're not from this world anyway so you're covered by different rules."

"Myungsoo and I will keep first watch tonight," Dongwoo volunteers when they reconvene. He stomps lightly on the ground and a flaming hedgehog takes shape, waddling over to one of Hoya's stacks of dried wood.

"Sungjong and I will take second watch then," says Hoya.

"And I guess that leaves us with the tail end," Woohyun says, elbowing Sungyeol lightly.

"The night is always darkest before sunrise," Sungyeol mutters ominously.

"You are such a cheerful ray of sunlight, Sungyeol," Dongwoo teases. "I'm glad you're part of the team."

"The Glen is a day's travel away from here," Woohyun reminds them and their humor sobers quickly. "So everyone eat well, rest well. We're practically right outside enemy territory."

"I know what that means," Howon says as he unfolds the square of cloth he sleeps on. "The sooner we reach them, the sooner we can kill them all."

Myungsoo sighs, soft enough for only Sunggyu to hear. "It's nice to know that everyone's so calm."

 

 

 

Sunggyu feels like he's only gotten a single wink of sleep when he wakes up to frantic screaming.

" _Prowlers!_ " Sungyeol is yelling. "They were waiting underground right inside the barriers!"

There's something to be said about how Howon is snoring deeply one moment, then barely a second later he's alert, wielding his twin gladii and completely ready to cause havoc. Sungjong scrambles awake beside him, his own broadsword drawn with both hands. "Armor spells!" he yells, which Howon acknowledges with a quick grunt. Both of them glow golden white at the same time, every inch of their body covered in weak light.

Sunggyu can hear it over the rush of blood in his ears, the rapid pounding in his chest. The low buzz of hundreds of pairs of wings disturbing the air.

"Wake up, goddammit!" Sunggyu shouts as he shakes Dongwoo's and Myungsoo's shoulders hard.

"Bwuh?"

"Mmfgl?"

Howon twirls his swords to awaken his grip. "Where's Woohyun?"

"Buying us time." Sungyeol kneels beside Myungsoo and slaps him not-so-gently in the face.

"Ow! What the-"

"Sunggyu," Sungjong calls, and Sunggyu rushes to him. "Stay out of the way, don't do any fighting even if it's to help." He presses his palm against Sunggyu's forehead and Sunggyu feels warmth cover him all over. "Spirit armor. Some protection but not much. And I removed my pacifism enchantment so you can defend yourself if you have to. Stay out of the way and don't grab any attention for yourself. Leave this fight to us."

"Stay with me," Woohyun says, dropping from a tree branch above. "But Sungjong's right. Leave the fighting to us." He slams both fists against the ground. The air ripples around them, fills with sparkles of green light, and when the flashes fade Sunggyu finds himself surrounded by wolves. Woohyun emerges with an armor of reinforced tree bark.

From a short distance away come the sound of vines and leaves being ripped apart.

"They're here," Dongwoo says flatly. His entire body is wreathed in flame.

"We were here first," Myungsoo answers. Of all of them, he's the only one who hasn't donned armor.

Nobody else is alarmed, though even if Sunggyu knows none of them are helpless he still can't stop himself from worrying. "Woohyun, will he-"

But it's Sungyeol who answers from deep inside his cloak of mist. "Just watch."

They're larger than Sunggyu expects. And they're nowhere near the fairies that manhwa and anime have led Sunggyu to believe, not gentle-faced people with insect wings growing from their backs.

The creatures that swarmed them were the size of seagulls, each one in shades of blue and black that made them harder to see in the night even with Dongwoo's flame and the soft glow of Sungjong's and Howon's auras. They were humanoid, that much Sunggyu could say, deformed little monsters with skin of rotting wood, miniature monsters that flitted and buzzed between them with the agility of hummingbirds. Their eyes glinted black and they carried sharpened twigs which they wielded like rapiers.

Sunggyu felt Sungyeol shiver beside him.

Howon slashed faster than Sunggyu's eyes could follow, one flawless move that cut clean through two fairies, lifeless bodies falling heavily to the ground. But the swing was blocked by a third fairy, Howon's sword bouncing off the enchanted twig with the sound of steel hitting steel, but before the fairy could flit away Sungjong cleaves it in half from behind. And soon both swordsmen have jumped into the fray, their blades flying through the swarm, trailing arcs of light, one golden, two red, and littering the forest floor with twitching wings and leaves.

The firelight flashes brighter as Dongwoo explodes, burning to ash those that flitted too close. When the flame dies down large owls made of pure fire fly through the night hunting down those fairies that flew high, while anything that stayed low were mauled by Woohyun's wolves.

But it's Myungsoo who's winning this fight, Myungsoo and his uncovered skin, his bare arms outstretched like he's inviting the fairies to sting like mosquitoes. But nothing can come near. Whenever a fairy tries, or whenever one flies away from the reach of Howon's and Sungjong's swords, or dodges too fast for Dongwoo's living fire, or jerks away from Woohyun's wolves, tendrils of Myungsoo's shadow leap from the ground to wrap around delicate bodies and crush them to death like flies.

If there's one thing Sunggyu is glad of right now, it's that these fairies are incapable of making sound.

"You're winning without much effort," Sunggyu tells Sungyeol. "Why is everyone so afraid of fairies when they can't even hurt you?"

"This is just an advance scout," Sungyeol explains. A fairy lunges for them but freezes solid the moment it touches Sungyeol's mist. The body falls and shatters loudly on the ground. "These fairies that they're killing are fungible. There's a different kind of fairy keeping out of harm's way whose mission is to watch us all and return alive with the memories. All it needs to do is to reach the queen with memories of how we fight, and then the queen will disperse the knowledge to all her minions. That's why we're only using basic spells; we don't want them to see anything advanced. I'm looking for that watcher fairy using the forest creatures' eyes."

Sungyeol turns his head to the right like he's listening for a sound from far away. "Found it. Woohyun, cover me."

"Got it," Woohyun says with a grimace. A shimmer of green light resolves into a gigantic spider that shoots nets made of sticky silk. He swats at a fairy that tried to stab his face, the hardened bark around his hand bats the light body straight into a tree trunk.

Sungyeol's eyes glow icy blue, drops of tears pool at the bottom of each, but instead of falling they float in the air. Each drop glows and grows and ripples all over until it takes the shape of monsters from the deep, but in each one Sunggyu can see scenes of the day before. Phantasms floating in the air made of Sungyeol's mind and powered by his memories.

The phantasms, not encumbered by mass or air, glide faster than any fairy can follow.

But something's wrong.

The fairies start to swarm faster. Woohyun's team is burning and cutting down fewer and fewer by the second.

"They're up to something!" Sungjong yells like nobody else noticed.

The fairies, as one, swarm away. And without the flying and the buzzing to distract them, Sunggyu and this band of men noctice tremors rumbling through the ground. The unmistakable shake in the earth as something large and heavy approaches at great speed.

"Well, this can't be good," Myungsoo notes faintly.

Primal roars fill the night. _Three_ monsters bellowing at the same time.

"Leatherback behemoths!" Woohyun, their beast master, yells. He disperses his wolves; some fights can't be won by numbers.

"Knowing the name _definitely_ makes them easier to kill!" Howon manages to snap.

"I'll take on one," Sungjong says tersely.

"You got it," Dongwoo says. "I'll take another."

"Don't kill them," Woohyun retorts, "they're very rare, we can't-"

"Not the time, Woohyun!" Sunggyu yells.

And behemoths clear the last line of trees, each one as large as a truck and all of them running at full speed. Each head is framed by pointed horns as large as Sunggyu. And Woohyun doesn't want these _killed_?

Sungjong stabs his sword into the ground as soon as he catches sight of one of the creatures. White light explodes from the buried edge and takes the shape of an enormous specter the size of an oak tree, its white robes and fading like fine mist. It grabs the horns of a charging behemoth and wrestles the monster to a standing stop. Hoya darts forward and climbs the beast with a series of agile jumps.

The second behemoth butts heads with a mirror image of itself made of shimmering fire. Dongwoo raises his hands in command and his fire owls merge with the image of the beast he created. It grows twice in size and tosses the leatherback behemoth to its side.

"No, _don't_ -" Woohyun begs, but Dongwoo ignores him. The fire beast lunges.

Sunggyu turns away from the carnage, but there isn't anything he can do about the sound and the smell.

"I'm sorry," Dongwoo says softly. There's heartbreak in his voice. "I'm sorry."

The third beast is nowhere to be found.

"What?" Myungsoo asks when Sunggyu looks at him. "Its hide was tough but it had very little resistance to magic. I didn't even break a sweat."

A much weaker rumble from the ground as Sungjong's specter throws its monster down and Woohyun runs to it immediately. An instant later, Sungyeol's body reanimates. "What did I miss?"

"Did you catch the watcher?" Sunggyu asks right away.

"Yeah. Found it when it buzzed by a raccoon. It had a bit more fight than I expected," Sungyeol says with a giddy laugh. "But yeah. Killed it but it broke one of my phantasms. That's a memory I'm never getting back."

But now that Sungyeol is safe, they head toward where the rest of the group is huddled beside the fallen behemoth, this time bound immobile by a length of glowing golden white chain. Howon's doing, no doubt, even if it is Sungjong's magic.

"Looks like you guys had some trouble," Sungyeol notes.

"Please, the swarm took more effort to take down," Myungsoo answers him indignantly. He plucks a crumpled flower caught on the rough hide of the behemoth's head. And like before, his breath wilts the sprig in his fingers.

"Their minds are broken," Woohyun says, his voice adorned with loss. "Fairy toxin. That's the only way I can think of. That's why Sungyeol didn't sense them nearby. But I don't know how they took control of the bodies. No toxin can control and berserk anything at the same time."

"The fairies acted smart, though," is Sungyeol's opinion. "They waited until I was gone before they sent the behemoths in. If their minds were already broken I could have taken control over the bodies more easily, fairy toxin or not."

"Anyone hurt?" Sungjong asks. Nobody minds him, which Sunggyu supposes is a good thing.

"I think we handled that pretty well," Howon says, basking in the rush.

"Sunggyu?" Dongwoo sidles up to him. "You still okay?"

"I'm made of sterner stuff," Sunggyu scolds him. But then the tension surges belatedly and he collapses to the floor. "I just wish my knees were, too," which for some reason causes Myungsoo to break up laughing.

"Strange, though," Woohyun says in his thoughtful voice. "Leatherback behemoths usually travel in packs of at least ten."

Everyone follows this announcement with a blink of dawning comprehension.

A quick flash of movement from the corner of Sunggyu's vision. Sungyeol's whole body shudders, and before any of them can grab him he collapses to the ground in an unmoving heap. Hoya's sword arcs in the air and slices through an unfamiliar black and yellow fairy that was hiding inside the behemoth's ear.

Sticking out of Sungyeol's solar plexus is a horribly familiar twig. Myungsoo's shadow plucks it off right away.

And then a much louder roar from not so far away.

Followed by the start of a very familiar buzz in the air.

"Shit," Myungsoo expresses eloquently.

"I knew that was too easy," Dongwoo grumbles.

" _Run!_ " Woohyun commands even as he throws Sungyeol over his shoulder. " _Head for the castle!_ "

"But elf magic-"

" _I DON'T FUCKING CARE, RUN!_ "

Sunggyu thinks it's nice to know that even this Infinite has a level of synchronicity to be proud of. Moving as one, they turned on their heels and ran.

"It's no use," Sungjong manages to pant. "Elven magic will keep the fairies away. But not the behemoths."

"I'll take care of it," Myungsoo volunteers.

At the very least, Sunggyu has enough control over his disbelief to keep on running. "Are you fucking _crazy_ , Kim Myungsoo?!"

Fortunately, Myungsoo ignores or doesn't hear the 'Kim' before his name. "See you at the castle," he calls out before diverting his momentum and jumping up to land on a tree branch. He's gone from sight too quickly.

"He can handle this," Howon huffs. "L is sharing his body with a demon and together they have _a lot_ of power."

Sunggyu decides he must have heard that incorrectly, mainly because if something as absurd as that were true then surely someone must have told him by now, right? Or if they didn't have complete faith in Myungsoo then at least one other person would have stopped and insisted on facing this as a team.

But everyone keeps on running. And Sunggyu runs along with them.

 

 

 

The elven castle's doorway doesn't so much 'loom before them' as 'flash past in a blur of unimportant architecture'.

Sunggyu doesn't get to enjoy the construction. Not that there's enough light to see anything by, not that they have time to stop to admire the view, not that any of them are in the right mindset for a quick moment of introspection.

The shadows are still, but they're deep and they're everywhere.

Dongwoo conjures a flame servant to lead the way.

"They've stopped following us," Howon yells as Sungjong bashes through a door and they pour into a gigantic room lit faintly by moonlight flowing in delicately through cracked windows. There are shapes in the dark, but they don't move and that's good enough for now. "Whatever L did, it worked."

"Then this is far enough," Woohyun huffs. He sets Sungyeol down carefully on the floor and kneels quickly beside him. The flame servant disappears in a puff of smoke, plunging them in near-opaque darkness, when Dongwoo keels over to catch his breath.

Sunggyu looks frantically around them. "Where's Myungsoo-"

"I'm here." A patch of shadow detaches from the wall and turns into Myungsoo in the blink of an eye. He's breathless and covered in streaks of black all over his body but his gait is stable and he doesn't look pained. "Not my blood," he says when he sees what Sunggyu is looking at. "They. Almost got me. But I was able to tap into L's power just in time."

Blood, Sunggyu learns then, glistens black in the moonlight.

Woohyun is trying to give out orders. "Myungsoo, I need you to look for a smaller room-"

Myungsoo blinks blankly at him. "What-"

Woohyun looks like he's on the verge of crying. Exhaustion. Disbelief. Sungyeol's weak breathing. And now Myungsoo is in shock when he sees the rotting flesh around Sungyeol's wound, pale skin turned even paler in the weak silver light. "You can't be tired, not now," Woohyun says, half snarling, half growling in command. And he would have been believable too, had his voice not broken and nobody's doing anything.

And something in Sunggyu snaps. " _Pull yourself together!_ " Sunggyu barks. Myungsoo focuses on him, eyebrows furrowed in surprise. "Now is _not_ the time to sit down, not when we still need you. Get your ass in shape and find us a place that's easier to defend."

Maybe it's the sheer novelty of hearing orders from Sunggyu instead, or maybe half a decade of giving orders also gave Sunggyu a semblance of magic of his own, some way to make himself heard if not by everyone then at least by these six men. Whatever it is, Myungsoo's eyes regain focus and he nods gamely, fades into the shadows once more.

Sunggyu moves on. "Sungjong, your defensive magic is the strongest, make-"

"No, I need him," Woohyun interrupts frantically. There's a faint green glow around his hands. He's pressing one against Sungyeol's wound, the other against Sungyeol's head. "His magic can heal more than mine can."

Sunggyu glares at Sungjong. "You heard him, get to it." Sungjong rushes to Woohyun's side. White and green mana mix and weave over the gash across Sungyeol's chest. Woohyun's hands are trembling in worry but Sungjong steadies him. That's good enough for now. Sunggyu turns to the last mage, who's still collapsed on the floor and trying not to heave. "Dongwoo-"

But warm, bright light almost blinds them all before Sunggyu finishes his request. Not one of Dongwoo's living flames; Howon had drawn one of his swords and the blade is wreathed in fire. "I'm not completely useless, you know," Howon teases weakly.

That's Howon for you.

But there's time for idle appreciation later, Sunggyu thinks. "Woohyun? Sungjong?"

"His wound is healing too slowly," Sungjong whispers tersely. "I've stopped his muscles from rotting but our magic can't seem to-"

"It's fairy magic." Woohyun speaks like he's about to pronounce Sungyeol dead. "They left a leaf from one of their swords in his body. That's all it takes. That's-"

"Shut up!" Sunggyu snaps again. "We're not giving up on him. If _you_ are, then don't get in our way."

Woohyun glares at him, but it's not the first time Sunggyu is on the receiving end of that expression. "I'm not giving up on anyone."

"Good," Sunggyu sneers. "Sungjong?"

"I can-" Sungjong runs frenzied hands against his hair, grips the back of his head hard as if squeezing in all the ideas he can find. "Regenerate him. Maybe. Fairy magic rots human flesh but it takes time. I can come up with a regeneration aura that works quickly enough to-"

"That won't solve the real problem," Howon interrupts him. "Outrunning the rot won't fix him, and as long as that leaf is there then he's lost."

"Then we take the leaf out."

"Easier said than done." Dongwoo joins them, rubbing the back of his hand against his lips like he's trying to clear the taste of bile. "We're all human here. None of us can touch that leaf."

A quick flash of green – too small to cause alarm but bright enough to add some color to the shadows – catches everyone's attention. Woohyun uncurls his fist and something iridescent flutters from his palm to land on Sungyeol's wound.

A beetle. About the size of Sunggyu's fist.

"Good thing he can't say anything, huh?" Woohyun grins weakly. "Can you imagine how much whining we'll have to put up with otherwise?"

The beetle burrows into Sungyeol's body, forces its way into the wound until Sunggyu sees nothing more of it but a raised lump of flesh. Squirming. Sunggyu tries very hard not to imagine things.

Everyone else seems to be thinking along the same lines. Dongwoo excuses himself to retch once again in a corner while Sungjong watches completely horrified. Sunggyu hears a patch of darker shadow beside him squeak, sees it quiver as if someone just cringed.

"If you ever have to save my life," Howon tells Woohyun after swallowing loudly, "I just want you to know that you're not obliged to."

The beetle emerges with a loud squelch, covered in blood and carrying a ragged leaf in its mandibles. It sets the leaf on the floor beside Sungyeol and vanishes in another flash of green light.

"Nobody touch that," Woohyun says as if anybody needed the reminder. "Dongwoo?"

Dongwoo nods, still visibly queasy when he returns. "I got it." A small spark leaps from the snap of his fingers. It turns into a butterfly made entirely of fire that flutters lazily to the floor. The leaf burns quickly.

But Sunggyu is paying more attention to how Sungjong and Woohyun are so fixated on Sungyeol's wound again, how the rotted flesh is turning pale once more to match the rest of the body, how the skin is knitting over the gash and soon it's easy to believe that there wasn't anything there at all.

"That should do for now," Woohyun says, wiping sweat away from his forehead. He and Sungjong sit back, the latter in acknowledgment that this is the best they can do at the moment and the former looking worn. But Sunggyu knows that relief is there somewhere, buried beneath convincing himself that everything's going to be alright after all. "He'll wake up when he's ready."

"We should find somewhere safer." Howon looks at Sunggyu and raises his eyebrows as if to ask for his opinions. "This place is too large to defend ourselves properly. And even Sungjong needs to rest his magic at least for a night."

Sungjong bristles. Subtle, but he doesn't like what he just heard. "Howon, I'm-" but he quiets when they catch each other's eyes.

Sunggyu nods. He looks at the patch of displaced dark lingering on the floor beside him. "Did you find a place?" 

Myungsoo rises in the blink of an eye to everyone else's surprise, as if they'd forgotten that Myungsoo was with them at all. "There are lots of rooms nearby, most of them lousy with rotten elf magic. But I found one where the magic is thinner three floors up from here. I cleared away the residual spells. It should be good for us."

He looks at Sunggyu. They all look at Sunggyu, and he's so used to it that it takes a moment for him to remember something crucial, only remembers it when he catches Dongwoo's eyes. "What do you think, Woohyun?"

And Woohyun startles, remembers belatedly that oh yeah he's supposed to be leading them. "I think it's good enough. Come on, everyone."

Dongwoo conjures a wolf to lead the way. Howon sheathes his sword now that there's another source of light and helps Sungjong heave Sungyeol on Woohyun's back.

"Good job," Sunggyu tells Myungsoo, who looks surprised to hear it. "But you don't have to keep hiding until we look for you. We need to know you're safe. Okay?"

Myungsoo smiling sincerely is always a memory to treasure.

 

 

The room that Myungsoo leads them to is barely the size of the dorm's living room back home, which they find only after getting lost in twisting hallways. The walls are still whole and there's a window for them to breathe fresh air, and maybe all in all these translate to security somehow. They drape some black cloth they found downstairs against the window so their firelight doesn't shine through. It never pays to advertise where they are.

Dongwoo whistles contentedly. "It's almost daybreak anyway. We'll be safe once the sun is up."

Woohyun gently settles Sungyeol at one of the corners.

"Best not leave anything to chance, the fairies can still come up with something before they have to retreat." Sungjong mutters after some thought. "I _feel_ safe but I'll feel safer if I put some protective enchantments on the way here. And I still have bit of extra mana, anyway. We don't want anyone sneaking up on us, do we?"

"I'll come with you," Howon says automatically, but Sungjong shakes his head confidently.

"I won't take long. It'll just be the usual spells to block the stairwells and the hallways. Save me some food." Sungjong draws his sword, mutters a short verse and the blade glows white, not as brightly as during the earlier fight did but definitely enough for him to see by. They hear his footsteps echo faintly down the hall.

"We have food?" Sunggyu asks.

Myungsoo digs through his satchel and pulls out a small package wrapped in brown cloth. "In a manner of speaking. I took a second to stop by our camp after taking down the behemoths. I thought this would be useful."

It turns out to be a wheel of bread. It elicits groans from everyone but Sunggyu.

"Now I know we're really desperate," Woohyun jokes as he heats his bread on the flame wolf curled up on the floor. "I never thought I'd ever have to eat dwarf bread."

"Is this really all we're going to eat?" Sunggyu asks incredulously as he eyes his piece of bread. The morsel is barely larger than his palm. Not that he's surprised, he ate much lesser when he was promoting- he blinks slowly. Why is he thinking of his idol life in the past tense? He _is_ an idol. _That's_ his life. This is... just a temporary displacement, or else a very persistent hallucination.

"This is dwarf bread," Howon says gruffly and bites off a small lump from his morsel. "It's all you're going to need."

"What do you know about dwarfs?" Myungsoo asks. Dongwoo scoots closer to them, a smirk of mischievous interest on his lips.

Sunggyu shrugs nonchalantly. "Not much more than I know about elves. I mean, in my world, we don't really believe in dwarfs, either." Sunggyu fails to recall the main dwarf's name in _The Lord of the Rings_. "People think they're good with metal. And they really like gold. That's basically it."

"That's pretty much how it is here, too," Dongwoo says. "Humans and dwarfs have a working alliance. See, dwarf magic is all about metallurgy, all about mining. So they provide us weapons or armor or whatever metal artifacts we need because whatever they come up with is better than anything we can make, and in return we give them. Well." He grins. "Good food."

Sunggyu's forehead crumples at the absurdity.

"Go on, try the bread." Dongwoo looks like he's trying hard not to break out in laughter and Myungsoo is stifling his chuckles with the back of his hand.

Sunggyu raises the bread cautiously to his lips. Takes a tentative bite.

And has to stop himself from spitting it out.

"Eat it. It's good for you," Howon urges him from his side of the room.

Sunggyu just wishes they managed to save their supply of water at least. "It's so _dry_! Like my mouth turned into a desert the moment I bit in!" And everyone breaks up laughing, including Woohyun when he returns from checking up on Sungyeol.

Dongwoo fondly pats Sunggyu's back. "See, dwarfs approach baking a lot like how they approach everything else: it's about function and never about the frills. So for them, baking is a lot like improvisational weaponsmithing."

"Just because you can eat it doesn't mean you can't bash someone over the head with it," Woohyun explains.

"They don't even have ovens," Myungsoo adds helpfully. "They use their forges for baking."

"But dwarf bread has everything you'll ever need," Howon says seriously. "Working in mines don't really afford them a lot of space for luxury. Dwarfs make their bread to last and to be as filling as possible. Tasting good has nothing to do with it."

"Which is what we offer them," Dongwoo points out, pulling the conversation back to its original place. "They give us good metal, we give them good food."

"Fire." A weak voice from the corner of the room.

Everyone turns to look at Sungyeol, who is trying to sit up by supporting his body with his elbows. Myungsoo scrambles to help him.

"They're burning the whole castle," Sungyeol says even as Myungsoo heaves him to lean against the wall. "There's a goblin outside. I saw through its eyes. The castle is on fire."

"The castle is made of stone," Howon says gruffly, not bothering to hide the impression that he thinks Sungyeol is a few bricks short of an oven. "Stone doesn't burn."

Woohyun gets on his feet to peer outside the window. "Everywhere is still dark. I don't see any fire around us." But he looks at Sungyeol like he's willing to listen.

Instead of arguing with them, Sungyeol looks straight into Sunggyu's eyes and Sunggyu suddenly finds himself looking at the castle from outside. The night is still dark but the promise of dawn is in the sky. There is the sound of fluttering wings around him even though he doesn't see where it's from.

 _Fairies. They're outside the elves' enchantments,_ Sungyeol's voice says directly into Sunggyu's mind. _We're in the mind of the goblin they used to burn the castle. Goblin eyes are different from human eyes. They can see different wavelengths of light and magic. Look._

And as they watch using borrowed eyes, Sunggyu sees one of the castle's walls collapse. There is a faint glimmer at the edge of sight, a sparkle of color all over the castle grounds like there _is_ fire and it's everywhere and Sunggyu can barely see it but it's _there_. The flames are climbing the castle walls. Even if stone doesn't burn.

Sungyeol breaks the spell and Sunggyu's mind is catapulted back into his body. Disoriented. But he makes one thing clear even as he rushes to reorient himself with his own senses. "We have to get out of here."

And Dongwoo leaps to his feet. "Ghostfire. Invisible fire that burns magic itself. They aren't burning the stones, they're burning the magic in them!"

" _Sungjong!_ " Howon yells as he lunges for the door, but he freezes when Myungsoo's shadow binds him.

"He already knows," Sungyeol tells Howon. "I told him. But the fire has already cut him off and he can't get back here. He's looking for another way out." Howon looks like he wants to slash them both but he forces himself to listen. He takes a deep, calming breath. Myungsoo releases his spell and Howon doesn't run off.

"How do _we_ get out of here?" Woohyun interrupts them frantically. A tremor rocks the castle as if an entire tower just collapsed on itself and they all brace themselves against a wall. "We have to think of something!" He says this to everyone but he's looking desperately at Sunggyu.

Everyone is looking at Sunggyu.

And before Sunggyu can curl defensively into himself and yell _How the fuck would I know!_ he's not even from this world, he's done well enough not to freak out, all things considered, he's a freaking _musician_ and the biggest danger he's ever faced are unstable set pieces and the eventual deranged anti-fan. And before he snaps at everyone to _think of something, you can use magic_, the world—

stops—

 _Maybe that's the wrong thing to say,_ his own voice says in his head. _What did I always tell myself whenever everyone fought and I felt like I was losing my mind? What did I learn about leadership?_

Everything is still. Woohyun waiting for orders, Howon with both of his swords drawn, Sungyeol on his feet and leaning on Myungsoo, Dongwoo with fire in his hands, all of them looking at Sunggyu for guidance. All their trust pooling in Sunggyu's chest, lighting him like his own personal sun.

There is no movement anywhere. This isn't a pocket in time. This is the small, impenetrable area of calm inside Sunggyu's mind, the place he retreats to whenever he needs to think.

They are Infinite. Because Sunggyu is there and Sunggyu will protect them in any way he can, and that makes them _his_ Infinite no matter who they are, no matter what.

 _Leaders should act the way people wish they themselves could act,_ he tells himself. Years of hard work, years of carrying the burden of six men on his shoulders, all condensed into one principle that has never failed him yet and will not fail him now. _Leaders should never feel lost. Leaders should never admit to having no idea about what to do next._

Once before, Sunggyu learned to change himself in order to lead a handful of kinds who dared to dream of winning the world. Once before, Sunggyu learned that his voice and his music were not enough, that there were other talents needed of him.

He did not fail them then. And he would not fail them now.

 _In this world, magic is as real as it can get,_ Sunggyu hears his own voice say in his head. _Anyone can use magic. For better or worse. You should be able to use it too if you put your mind to it._

Sunggyu grew up in a world of music and hard work, where magic is only for when dreams come true and you don't look too closely at how it all happened. Sunggyu believes only in real things.

But as he's seen with his own eyes and heard with his own ears, in this world magic is real. And Kim Sunggyu believes strongly in Kim Sunggyu.

A moment of perfect clarity. A gift that all leaders yearn for.

"This way!" Sunggyu yells and the world is back in motion. He runs to the window and pulls the black cloth off, revealing the brightening sky beyond.

"The whole place is on fire," Sungyeol reminds him. "Even if we survive a jump from this high, we definitely won't live through ghostfire!"

Sunggyu grins at his group. Mania. Adrenaline. All those good things. "We're jumping out but we won't land on the ground!"

"For the record, I've always known you were crazy," Howon sighs, but he stands beside Sunggyu anyway. "What's the plan?"

What Infinite needed back then was a leader who would shape them into the disciplined idols they are now. What Infinite needs now is a leader who can give them a way out of a burning castle.

What Sunggyu needs now is wings.

Like the wings that have been plaguing his dreams. "The plan is to fly," Sunggyu tells them all.

_Magic is real._

"Whoa." Woohyun, for the first time, is not unimpressed.

Leather wings take shape and unfold right outside the window. Sunggyu can feel the world's mana coursing through his body, taking its cues from the commands in his head then leaping out into the world and ceasing to be merely imaginary. _We need three,_ Sunggyu thinks strongly, and the mana tries to resist and dispel but Sunggyu grips it tightly, finds the nooks and crannies in his mind that he can use to bend the mana to his will.

The spell resolves in the blink of an eye. The evidences of his success glide effortlessly in the air before them: three majestic beasts, each one as blue as the morning sky.

Sunggyu can summon _dragons_.

"Come on!" he yells.

They help Sungyeol out first with Myungsoo assisting him. Howon and Dongwoo climb onto the back of the second, Sunggyu jumps on the third followed by Woohyun who settles in right behind him. The dragons flap their wings to climb the air, less about lift and relying on the magic that created them to also aid their flight.

A loud crash from below. A chunk of the wall explodes outward to reveal Sungjong, wearing one of his auras and glowing white from head to toe. Dongwoo's and Howon's dragon dives and glides gently to him. Sungjong lightly jumps aboard and they fly high once again to catch up with the rest of the group.

By the time they're too high to hear anything, Giltleaf Castle – with all the magic keeping it together burned away by invisible ghostfire – gives in and crumbles to the ground. But they don't stay to watch.

Dawn breaks. Woohyun's and Sunggyu's dragon catches the first rays of morning light.

"This is incredible," Woohyun says from right behind Sunggyu and Sunggyu remembers that his guard is down. "I've never seen anything like this before. Look, the wings are changing!"

Flecks of green are mottling their dragon's wings. Sunggyu glances at the other two but they don't seem to be affected by this development, their wings staying resolutely sky blue. "Weird," Sunggyu says. "But hey, as long as it doesn't affect their flight they can take whatever color they want."

"Nobody has ever summoned dragons before," Woohyun continues excitedly. "Nobody's mind has the right shape. I'm the best summoner around and when I tried the most I came up with was a lump of mana that vanished too quickly. You're amazing, Sunggyu!"

 _Where to now?_ Sungyeol's voice says in his head.

 _What the hell, what are you doing in my head?!_ Howon's voice this time, also soundless but arriving crystal clear. And sounding very affronted.

 _Times of need,_ Sungyeol huffs. _It's just a simple mindlink, no need to freak out. Easier than yelling at each other while we're in the air. Just... think your words at us. Say them out loud if it helps._

"Sungjong, are you okay?" Sunggyu asks. He feels foolish for a moment, but Sungjong answers and that's what matters.

 _What, you're worried about me for just that? It's not like it was anything life-threatening,_ Sungjong laughs lightly, though Sunggyu hears the surprised gratefulness in the tone.

"Glad to hear it. But Howon? Don't ever let Sungjong out of our sight again, okay?"

 _Count on it,_ Howon mutters grimly, earning a falsely affronted _Hey!_ from Sungjong.

 _Again, where to now?_ Sungyeol repeats.

Woohyun twists and turns in his seat. "It's hard to get bearings from high up but it looks like we're going in the right direction." He points at a low mountain ridge by the horizon. "The Glen Elendra should be on the other side of that ridge."

 _That's about a day's travel,_ Dongwoo says. _But in the air we should be able to reach it in an hour._ Grim silence greets his words. _Is everyone ready? Looks like we'll be fighting this war earlier than we thought._

 _I guess it's too late to back out now,_ Myungsoo mutters to himself.

"The Glen is the heart of fairyland," Woohyun reminds them all. "The moment we pass the Veil, the enchantments tampering fairy magic during daytime won't be in effect anymore, meaning their magic will be as strong as ever."

 _We already know this, Woohyun,_ Sungjong says patiently.

Howon's voice is bracing. _So let's do this hard and fast. The queen is the central brain of all the fairies. Take the queen down and the rest will follow. Right?_

"That's the plan," Woohyun says tersely. "Sunggyu's dragons are giving us a huge advantage: we can fly right into the heart of the Glen and into the queen's palace instead of breaching their kingdom from the edge and fighting our way through."

Sungyeol groans loudly. _Straight into the lair of the strongest fairy alive. Great. I'm positively ecstatic._

 _So it's time to unleash our full power now, boys!_ Only Dongwoo could sound so manic about the prospects of life and death. But Sunggyu isn't fooled. Dongwoo, both this one and the one in the other world, are solid believers in positive thinking especially in the face of adversity.

 _I'm cutting the mindlink,_ Sungyeol tells them. _I have a feeling I need to save my energy for later. Let's connect again in a while._ And the buzz of voices grows silent.

"Are you ready?" Sunggyu asks Woohyun.

"We've been saving our major spells for the main fight. That doesn't mean I'm any less worried," Woohyun admits. "I want us all to get out of this alive. I even want to tell Sungyeol to stay back because he can't use magic offensively on the same level as the rest of us. I don't want him to get hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"But you need him there."

"We need him there," Woohyun agrees. "Sungyeol. Dongwoo. Sungjong and Howon. Myungsoo. All six of us."

Sunggyu grins even though Woohyun can't see it. "Don't leave me out. I'm coming with you guys."

"Don't put yourself in danger," Woohyun chides him. "I acknowledge that you're a genius to have summoned dragons, but it's going to take more than this to be able to fight."

"I can summon more," Sunggyu says confidently. "Ten. Maybe fifty. An entire army of dragons. Don't tell me that won't be helpful."

"But I think I've already pulled you in too much." Sunggyu turns in his seat to catch Woohyun looking at him intensely. Woohyun smiles at him, sad and wistful. "I don't know how it happened either, it doesn't make sense. I mean, you know how magic feels now, right? It's like telling the world what you want to happen using the right words and the right tone, and each person uses their own words and tone so the world reacts differently. Well."

Woohyun laughs, so very conscious of what he's saying, just like Sunggyu's Woohyun whenever he acknowledges his complex. "The day you came, I asked the world to help us get through this. When the council gathered the six of us, they made me the leader because I have the most experience working with groups. But that doesn't mean I can actually lead a group. That doesn't mean I can lead anyone anywhere. And I can't. I fall to pieces when other people need me."

"You did your best," Sunggyu says, facing front again. "That's all that anyone could ask for."

"Maybe that's how it is in your world." Woohyun's grip around Sunggyu's waist tightens. "That's not true here. What matters here is that we succeed. What matters here is that we stop the fairies now before they grow any stronger. So I asked the world for help. And then. Well. The world gave me you."

Sunggyu laughs despite his pessimism. Anything to lighten the mood. Because it's too dangerous but too easy to imagine these words being said by his Woohyun instead. "Then the world heard you wrong. I'm a singer! From a world that doesn't have magic! I can't do anything here, I'm practically next to useless."

Woohyun shakes his head. "Says the guy who summoned dragons on his first try! You know that's not true. You lead us this far. We wouldn't have made it here without you."

"Don't say that," Sunggyu retorts. "So what if they didn't listen to you at first? They would have learned eventually. I just arrived before you found your leadership style but that doesn't mean you would have failed if I didn't." He feels Woohyun laughing against his body even if Woohyun manages to stay silent. "What?"

"How do you know exactly what to say?" Woohyun asks, incredulous and fond at the same time.

"I also live with a Woohyun," Sunggyu admits and wow, why does it suddenly feel like he's living on the edge of danger? "And you're exactly like him. I mean, you guys are different in a lot of things but you're exactly the same person where it matters. Smart and well-meaning. Emotionally needy. Always needs to be loved. Always comparing himself to different people and hating every single time he falls short of some standard. Even if no one else is comparing him."

"Sounds like you've been watching him closely," Woohyun says with a corner of his lips quirked up.

"Someone has to," Sunggyu says quietly, falling into the habit of defenses. "It's so easy for him to hurt himself."

But then, this Woohyun isn't his Woohyun, right? This Woohyun isn't so careful of what he eats, isn't so particular with his body, but he knows his pack like the back of his hand and he uses each beast's strengths to their advantage. This Woohyun has carried the burden of leadership and quickly realized that it means having to be someone who he's not, and having to change himself or ask for help is okay. Because this Woohyun is forced by experience to see past the glamour of the role.

"He's lucky that he has you to protect him, then," Woohyun says. "Even if he doesn't know how lucky he is. Take it from me. I can take a lot of things for granted."

But in the end, Sunggyu thinks, maybe all these differences are about what his Woohyun can learn but it's not about who Woohyun really is. Because maybe what matters is that the person holding on to Sunggyu now while they're flying through the air is _a_ Woohyun, who is still a Woohyun in his own right, even if it's not _his_ Woohyun.

And even if they are innately the same, these are still Woohyuns of different worlds.

"I've never told him why," Sunggyu whispers, doesn't really care if Woohyun hears him. But with them so close together like this, it's impossible for Woohyun to miss the words.

"I think he'd like to know."

Yeah. Maybe this isn't his Woohyun but this is still Woohyun. And they're closer than they've been for a while and Sunggyu has been strong for too long.

"Even if this is the reason?" he asks. Turns his head fully and leans in quick. Learns how it feels to have Woohyun's lips against his, all those years of wondering and imagining cresting in too fast a moment of experience. "My Woohyun and I... we need to function as a team. A lot of people rely on us working well together. I can't let something like this get between us."

"I'd want to know if it were me," Woohyun insists quietly, "and I'm sure your Woohyun would want to know, too."

"I can't afford this kind of change," Sunggyu admits with a short laugh.

Woohyun's arms around Sunggyu's waist tightens and Sunggyu tenses because right now he's not sure which Woohyun is running around inside his head, but this Woohyun doesn't ease up until Sunggyu eases in to the assurance. "You said he and I were the same where it matters, right? Well. I think you matter. And I'm glad to know."

Sunggyu nods, withdraws into himself once more, carefully shapes his expression back to calculated blankness. "I'll think about it. Afterward. Let's focus on your mission first."

Woohyun rests his head against the back of Sunggyu's neck. "One last fight. Let's get through this alive and it'll all be over."

 

 

 

The Veil looms as they approach, a weak shimmer in the air that forms an unbroken dome over the valley.

The Glen Elendra holds up to everything Sunggyu imagined fairyland to be, at least from what he can see high in the air. There's color everywhere in every shade he can imagine, maybe even a few of those he can't, color made possible only through magic like the eighth band of the rainbow. There are no castles or towers or houses anywhere in the valley, just the largest garden Sunggyu has ever seen.

And at the center of the Glen, towering over the trees is a single unopened rose bulb the size of a shopping mall.

The fairy queen's palace.

The good thing about riding dragons is that they can fly straight to the palace instead of having to fight fairies on foot. The bad thing is that riding dragons into enemy territory isn't exactly a subtle method to get anywhere.

"I'm just glad that fairies can't fly very high," Woohyun mutters.

 _Is everyone ready?_ Sungyeol asks.

 _I've been keeping my fire down for days,_ Dongwoo informs them lightly. _Going full force will be a relief._

 _Howon and I are ready,_ says Sungjong. _Remember, we can't afford a single injury. Keep your armors strong._

"Myungsoo?" Sunggyu asks. "You're awfully quiet."

Maybe the mindlink works beyond just words; Sunggyu can feel Myungsoo's anxiety as if it were his own. _I'll be releasing L's full power again,_ Myungsoo worries. _It's been years since I had to. And. I'm not sure if I can rein it back afterward. Guys, L is very dangerous, if I can't control him after the fight-_

 _I'll fight him, then,_ Howon says confidently. _Long enough for you to take over. After all, L failed to kill me before, right? I don't think he'll succeed this time around. And I kind of like Myungsoo more than L._

 _Besides, you have me now,_ Sungyeol adds. _Even demons have minds, meaning I can subdue him if you can't._

Sunggyu can see Myungsoo smiling in his head. _Just don't go overboard, okay? I'll also be in there being scared with all of you._

"I have a question," Sunggyu volunteers. They're above the Veil's zenith now. The Glen looks peaceful from this high up. "How will we keep fairies all over the valley from swarming the queen's palace?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeves," Woohyun says. "I've been collecting beasts for this specific purpose, actually. You already saw one of them last night."

_So I guess we're ready. We may get separated down there so I'll keep the mindlink open. If anybody needs help, remember: ask for it._

Woohyun braces himself against Sunggyu. "Let's dive."

Sunggyu nods gamely. "Hold on tight."

As one, the dragons fold their wings and they drop from the sky.

The rush of air past their ears is deafening.

The Veil – designed solely to keep fairy magic within the Glen – lets them through, ripples in the shimmering air the only clue that the magic was disturbed. The dragons flare their wings to slow their fall, controls their glide to head straight to the palace itself.

Four of them don their armors as one. Glyphs glow white on Sunggyu's skin as Sungjong's magic comes alive to protect him.

The fairies can't fly high to greet them, but even at the eye-watering speed of their dive Sunggyu can see the fairies swarming thickly near the palace.

 _I've got this,_ Dongwoo yells. Sunggyu turns his head in time to see Dongwoo jump off his dragon and explode. The fireball splits into four birds of flame with Dongwoo riding the largest one, and they burn their way through gathered fairies, scattering the crowd and letting the three dragons past.

Their claws grip the green flower bud tightly. The six men jump onto the roof of the palace. The dragons disperse back into mana the moment Sunggyu's feet touch the springy plant matter.

Myungsoo's face and arms (and the rest of his body, Sunggyu assumes) are covered in jagged black runes. Howon is wearing his familiar aura, much like the one Sunggyu is wearing, but Sungjong's armor looks like it was forged out of silver and mirrors, scattering sunlight brightly all around him. Sungyeol, on the other hand, is shrouded in mist so thick that they can't actually seem him anymore.

Woohyun isn't protected by anything yet but he's invoking under his breath and they're quickly surrounded by sparkles of green light.

Myungsoo crouches and lays his hands on the bulb. The green quickly starts crumpling and turning black. The plant wall caves in the exact moment Woohyun's spell resolves into an army of giant spiders that litter half the palace roof. The army skittles on its thousand legs to cover every inch of the palace in a web of sticky silk.

A blast of hot wind hits them. Not far above is a new flock of phoenixes crisscrossing the air with waves of fire.

"All of you go in," Woohyun commands. "Dongwoo and I will cover our trail." Sunggyu knows better than to protest. Woohyun and Dongwoo can handle themselves.

Howon jumps into the hole first, followed by Myungsoo and Sungjong. The Sungyeol cloud watches Sunggyu intently.

A final reassuring glance at Woohyun and the beginnings of the next wave of his army. Sunggyu jumps in and Sungyeol follows without a word.

The inside of the palace is a dark maze, hallways branching everywhere and seemingly at random intervals. Howon's swords are already alight whereas Sunggyu and Sungjong are sources of light of their own so they can still see their way through the maze of pale pink halls. Myungsoo has always been more comfortable in the shadows. And Sungyeol-

"So this is what a fairy mind feels like," Sungyeol says from deep within his mist. "The queen is giving me a headache. Her senses are scattered across too many bodies but she's the only one we have to find. The main one. Several layers deeper into the flower."

"Which direction?" Sungjong asks.

"To the center."

"Stand back," Howon warns, but he slashes violently at the thick petal walls before any of them actually clear his range, his swords cutting and burning at the same time. He leads the way past the ruins, dodges left from a rapier thrust an inch away from his cheek. He bats the weapon away with a quick swing of his own. The fairy flits back out of range.

The hallway is quickly filling with armored fairies zipping through the air with wasp-like wings. This species is larger than the ones they fought earlier, each one half the size of a man and wielding stingers plucked off giant hornets.

"I have this," Myungsoo says. The writing on his skin spreads even thicker. Thorns sprout all over his body, tearing his clothes away to reveal scars that glow deep red like magma. He breathes toxic green smoke in the direction of the fairies and all those it touches grab their throats and fall to the floor.

"That's our cue to go far away really fast." Sungyeol freezes the next layer of wall which Sungjong shatters through with a kick.

"Was that... L?" Sunggyu gasps.

"That was Myungsoo borrowing some of L's powers," Howon explains. "The real L won't have waited for us to leave before breathing poison everywhere."

Sungyeol leads them deeper into the maze. "This way."

 _Two outside, one fighting on his own,_ , Sunggyu counts in his head as they run through the next empty halls. A tremor rocks the entire palace followed quickly by the enraged roar of a gigantic beast from above.

"Looks like Woohyun's really summoning the big ones," Sungjong grumbles.

They slash and burn and shatter their way through more walls that Sunggyu can reliably count. Deeper and deeper into the palace, the spaces becoming tighter, the maze patterns more intricate.

"Uh-oh." That's one of the last things Sunggyu wants to hear from the normally very stoic Sungyeol. " _Grab on to something!_ " he yells, both by voice and through their mindlink.

And the reason why makes itself clear immediately after.

The entire palace begins to shake. Not just the tremors of Woohyun summoning his monsters or even Dongwoo's explosions. They can feel the unsettling rumble coming from deep inside the structure itself. Howon and Sungjong stab their swords through the walls and grip tightly. Howon grabs Sunggyu's arm while Sungyeol deactivates his mist to avoid freezing Sungjong.

The palace... blooms.

It's toss and tumble for a while, all four of them yelping and struggling to stay on their feet as the world reorients itself, floors becoming walls, walls becoming the ceiling, the dark hallways suddenly filling with bright daylight and wind blowing from all over. Sungyeol loses his grip but doesn't roll far away, whereas Sunggyu grabs on to Howon tighter than he's ever held anyone in his life and Howon endures the discomfort of a grown man curled firmly against his body.

But soon the world stops moving and there's a definite floor for them to step on. Sunggyu lets go of Howon, and Howon breathes freely again now that Sunggyu isn't crushing his lungs.

There's sky above and they're standing near the middle of a gigantic pink rose in full bloom. A frantic glance around shows trails of webs littering the outer edge of petals. There are spiders leaping and crawling and phoenixes still burning through the open air above. On the petal to their right is a beast made entirely of vines snatching wayward fairies in midflight.

"The queen," Sungjong says darkly.

And at the very center of the flower is a throne made of the iridescent wings of butterflies. And on that throne she sits gracefully.

The queen of the fairies.

She's human in shape, not just humanoid, but with every blink Sunggyu's eyes see a collection of flowers carefully arranged to look human even though his brain insists that it's a woman wearing a gown regally made of petals. Like one of those pictures where you never know what you're looking at: is it two faces or a vase? are the stairs going up or down? is the terrace seen from the top or the bottom?

Is she a woman made of bluebells? Or a bouquet made to look like a queen?

But then, in this world maybe there isn't one answer. Maybe it's possible to be both where magic is real.

The queen of the fairies.

And she turns to face them.

From the flowers of her hands crawl out black beetles that fly toward Sunggyu's group, changing in mid-flight from harmless insects to dark-winged warriors brandishing epees made of thorns. There are too many of them to count.

"The final-sting fairies," Sungyeol tells them urgently. Sungjong and Howon raise their swords, their aura and armor glowing brighter. "The queen's personal guard. Be very careful. It was one of those fairies that got me last night. Those swords can-"

"Decay human flesh." Howon takes a careful step back. "We know. Fairy magic. Woohyun told us last night."

The fairies saunter closer. Their epees glint evilly in the sunlight.

"Any ideas, guys?" Sungjong whispers, almost but not quite frantic.

"How about I drop in?" a voice shouts from above just before a pillar of fire erupts and consumes the body of the swarm and scatters those at the edges. The fire spell resolves into a burning python with a body thick as Sunggyu's torso. Dongwoo lands nimbly from the sky, worn and worse for wear but still so full of vigor.

"Dongwoo, the queen!" Sunggyu yells, thankful that Dongwoo is always attentive to context.

The python curls around the throne, but the flowers don't burn and a tiny chrysanthemum blooms between the snake's eyes. It pauses for a moment before turning to face Dongwoo instead.

A flash of green sparkles quickly followed by a shadow that blots out the sun above the throne, a split-second of ominous dark right before a frog the size of a dump truck drops from the sky and crushes the python and the throne beneath it. "Thought you could use my help," Woohyun calls, crouched on the frog's head, wearing tight-fitting armor woven entirely from spider silk.

Somehow, Sunggyu knows better than to feel relieved. "Sungyeol, where is she?"

"Her mind is scattered all over the flower palace," the Sungyeol cloud says. "I'm trying to find where she's collecting herself-"

The frog's tongue lashes out like a whip. Howon is fast enough to cut it right before it hits Sunggyu. Woohyun, eyes wide, disperses the creature and leaps away. A chrysanthemum falls delicately through the air.

Sungjong spins on his heel and calls up a wall shaped like jagged crystal. The vine monster's claws scratch against it, leaving deep gashes that reform in seconds. Sungyeol covers the creature in mist until it's completely encased in ice. 

It's only then when they realize that all the spiders all over the flower have crawled silently closer and surrounded them, each one sporting a tiny chrysanthemum right above the mandible.

A green and blue fairy the size of a bulldozer lands heavily nearby, each of its bladed arms dripping with thick, green goo. The floor sizzles and crumples wherever the drops fall.

The men share a collective moment of silence, a point in time that translates to everyone simultaneously thinking "Oh shit."

"Can you unsummon the spiders?" Dongwoo asks Woohyun tersely.

"Not all of them at once!"

Howon's smirk is grim. "Then we don't have a choice." For the first time in Sunggyu's memory, the blades of Howon's swords glow bright enough to be blinding. Woohyun doesn't resist.

Several things happen at the same time.

Flowers sprout beneath their feet. "The queen!" Sungyeol yells. Everyone jumps away as the throne reforms and the bouquet sitting on it blooms to life, immediately surrounded by its swarm of guards.

The floor in front of the giant fairy turns opaque black. A demon, three times the size of a man and covered head to toe in thorns, lunges up from the darkness, grabs the fairy's throat and bites its head off.

Specters of blue form in the air, shadows of three pairs of leathery wings that they can barely see grow solid and flap wide. Sungyeol climbs on the back of one, Woohyun and Dongwoo on another, and Sunggyu by himself on the third. Howon and Sungjong are charging through the army of spiders and scattering severed limbs behind them.

 _Are we retreating?_ Woohyun asks.

Sunggyu doesn't answer. He quietly takes stock of the situation, reorients himself with what they have and what they still need to do.

Anything Woohyun and Dongwoo can summon can also be turned against them.

 _Think, Sunggyu,_ he berates himself.

Myungsoo, Howon and Sungjong are fighting through Woohyun's spiders and the new swarm of the queen's personal guard. Sungyeol is thinking the aerial view at the three still on the flower, providing a new perspective and allowing them to guard themselves better. But even Sunggyu, in his inexperience, can see that they're all on the defensive and that's no way to win this fight.

The queen is watching them all from her throne.

_Think!_

One of Dongwoo's phoenixes speeds past above Sunggyu, chasing one of the last airborne fairies.

And Sunggyu gets an idea.

"Dongwoo," he asks urgently, "are your phoenixes still flying under your control?"

_Huh? Yeah, most of them are-_

-and none of Sunggyu's dragons have grown chrysanthemums-

- _as a tribe, the fairies learned how to live on the natural magic that the land produces,_ Sungjong said yesterday-

-and just minutes ago when they broke into the palace, what did Sungyeol say? _So this is what a fairy mind feels like ... The queen is giving me a headache_ -

Because...

... because it's the first fairy mind that Sungyeol ever encountered? And Sungyeol found that watcher fairy by peering into a raccoon's mind, not by sensing that fairy's mind itself. Because...

_Because..._

A sharp chill crawls down Sunggyu's back. Epiphanies always make him feel like he dived into a freezing lake.

All the fairies they killed were nothing but summons. There has only ever been one fairy.

She is watching from her throne.

Her throne is the flower of her palace.

Her palace is the rose of the valley.

Her valley is the garden of the world.

And everything with a connection to the garden that doesn't have its own mind, she can learn to command using her chrysanthemums.

"Woohyun! Can you summon anything that can fly?"

_What? Just beetles, but they can't fight-_

"Dongwoo? More phoenixes?"

_How many do you need?_

"As many as you can make. Cover me!" Sunggyu's dragon spreads its wings, gathers the wind beneath itself and soars higher. Dongwoo's phoenixes surround him, followed by blue phantasms that mature into sea serpents.

 _Thank me later,_ Sungyeol butts in. _I don't want whatever you're planning to be suicidal._

"I have so much to live for," Sunggyu says solemnly. And so what if he's thinking of Woohyun? "Let's dive." The dragon folds its wings.

It's funny, Sunggyu thinks when the world is rushing up at him and the roar of the wind renders him deaf. It's funny how he's always relied on his voice to help his dreams come true. How it's his words more than his actions that helped Infinite push and pull their way to the top. But now that actual lives are depending on him, in the end he has to rely on his hands.

The queen's guard swarms thickly, a poisonous cloud of black covering the throne and hiding Sunggyu's target from sight.

But Sunggyu's momentum is too great to be stopped. And where his speed may fail, Dongwoo and Sungyeol have thrown their support.

They're not fighting alone.

The phoenixes fly ahead and burn through the swarm, creating an opening for Sunggyu's dive and letting him through. The phantasms lose their shape to coat Sunggyu in a layer of hardened memories, a totem of protection above the armor Sungjong cast on him.   
But the queen is still hidden in her swarm, the speed of the dive is hurting Sunggyu's eyes and he's so close, he only has this one chance but if he can't see-

 _Close your eyes,_ Howon's voice says in his head, _and look through mine._

And Sunggyu does.

He sees himself on the back of his dragon soaring downward at breakneck speeds. And Howon has positioned himself where he can see the queen clearly.

And at the right moment, Sunggyu opens his eyes again. Reaches out. Closes his hand around the queen's neck and feels a stem against his palm-

-and picks the flower from its throne.

Flowers, once picked, are nothing but dead things.

 _Sunggyu!_ Myungsoo, alarmed. _You're-_

 

 

 

"-awake?"

It takes a moment for Sunggyu's vision to clear and another for him to jumpstart his lungs when he realizes he's not breathing.

"Hyung?" Myungsoo asks uncertainly.

Sunggyu is lying in bed.

But not _his_ bed. It doesn't take much deductive reasoning to figure out where he is, what with the white blanket and the absence of personal furniture and the tiled floor and the beeping, glowing machinery, the ceiling lights turned off and a solitary lamp casting warm light in a nearby corner. The smell of disinfectant in the air. There's a tubed needle stuck through the back of Sunggyu's hand and the bed is slightly inclined from the waist up. Myungsoo is sitting on a spindly chair right beside the bed.

"Myungsoo?" Sunggyu asks. He sounds like he just ate gravel. Like he hasn't spoken for...

"Hyung." Myungsoo smiles. Cheerful. Relieved.

Sunggyu tries to sit up, an action that his body takes as its permission to start aching all over and at the same time. "Shit," Sunggyu whimpers, falling back against the stiff bed.

"Shit is right," Myungsoo says with an amused grin. "I'm just glad you're okay, hyung."

"But-" _the queen_ , Sunggyu almost asks, "-what?"

Myungsoo frowns in worry. "Maybe you're not so okay yet," he says. "The doctors said they didn't think you were concussed but if you can't remember what happened-"

" _Myungsoo_." Deep, calming breaths. "Where. Is everybody?"

Myungsoo glances at his watch. "Filming should be done by now. They're probably on the way here already." A brief, thoughtful pause. "I should text them that you're awake."

"Too late for that, Kim Myungsoo," a voice scolds lightly from the door. Woohyun. "Hyung." Careful steps inside the room as if he's afraid Sunggyu would run away. Or bite his head off.

"How are the kids?" Sunggyu asks immediately. Reflex.

Some of the worry on Woohyun's face vanishes then. "Now I know you're really okay. The kids are fine. They're waiting in the van downstairs, Hyoan-hyung allowed only one of us to stay over. And speaking of which. Myungsoo, get packing, they're waiting for you."

Myungsoo glares at him hard. "I want to stay."

"You need to sleep."

"I can sleep here."

Woohyun groans. "Myungsoo, come on-"

It takes a lot of effort but Sunggyu manages to raise a hand and ruffle Myungsoo's hair. It's weak but the fondness is there. The gentle reassurance. "Hyung will be okay. Go home. Get some sleep."

Myungsoo doesn't say anything. Looks sulky and rebellious but Sunggyu knows better. "Don't stay up too late."

"I won't."

"You two are _so_ sweet," Howon coos as he comes in. "You forgot your bag, Nam-star. And Hyoan-hyung sent me to make sure Myungsoo wouldn't take too long to pack up." He looks strange, Sunggyu thinks, without his swords in his hands.

Myungsoo rolls his eyes at them and gets up with a huff.

"Atta boy," Howon teases. Myungsoo ignores him and heads out the door. "You sure you'll be okay taking care of the old man by yourself?" Howon asks Woohyun.

" _Hey_."

Woohyun grins, taking the backpack from Howon. "I'm sure he won't be much trouble."

Sunggyu wants to throw his pillow at them but he's not sure if his muscles would listen.

"I'm glad you're okay, Leader-Gyu," Howon tells him lightly. "But I agree with Myungsoo. Get some rest. You took a bad fall the other day. We don't want you and your aching bones to slow us down."

"I feel so loved," Sunggyu mutters. "Oh, and Howon?"

Howon looks back from beyond the door. "Yeah?"

Sunggyu doesn't say anything. Only looks at Howon with a question in his eyes. A request for permission. A quiet moment of understanding.

Howon nods. Undoes Sunggyu's locks and unbinds him from his chains. Leaves Sunggyu alone. Trusts him to do the right thing.

"Thank you," Sunggyu says even if Howon doesn't hear. "For everything."

"What was that about?" Woohyun asks as he takes Myungsoo's place on the bedside chair. "Oh hey, looks like you dropped something." He bends out of view for a second, reaches for the floor and sits back up. Raises-

_the queen's head_

-a bluebell held gingerly between his fingers. "From Myungsoo, I guess. Probably thought you'd look more dramatic with a dash of color in your hands. I wonder where he put the rest of the bouquet, though."

Sunggyu keeps his face blank.

He killed the queen. And without the queen the fairies' threat is ended. Which means Woohyun's wish came true. Which means... Sunggyu had no reason to be there anymore. The magic that brought him had no reason to keep him. So he was sent back.

"Gyu? You sure you're okay? You look-"

"Sick."

"-like you want to cry. Hey, whatever it is, I'm here, okay?"

"I don't really need to be taken care of," Sunggyu says by way of answering. "I'm sure you'll sleep better at home."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Woohyun tells him with a light laugh. "Let me take care of you at least this once, old man."

"You've taken care of me plenty of times before."

"Like when? You never let me."

"Whenever you look after the kids, you're taking care of me."

Woohyun's laughter is much less controlled this time, and a lot more unimpressed. "That is such a shitty answer, Kim Sunggyu."

Sunggyu just grins at him, weak but genuine. Watches Woohyun watching him.

And this is dangerous, this moment between them, a part of Sunggyu's brain rearing up and sounding the alarms... but he's been through other dangers, taken worse risks in another world that right now exists only in his memories.

 _I'd want to know if it were me,_ Woohyun – the other Woohyun – told him when they were flying. _You said he and I are the same where it matters._

"You're looking at me weird." Woohyun chuckles. But there's nervousness there, Sunggyu can hear it.

"How weird?"

Woohyun shakes his head. "I shouldn't say."

"Hey, it was my look, I'd want to know how it came across."

"Like you want to kiss me," Woohyun blurts out. "But that's stupid of me, I'm just tired okay-"

"Maybe I do," Sunggyu cuts in. He doesn't dishonor Woohyun's honesty by looking away. Keeps his eyes on Woohyun even as Woohyun freezes in surprise.

"What? Gyu-"

"Maybe I've wanted to for a long time," Sunggyu continues. It's hard to stop the dam once the water starts pouring. "Maybe I've wanted to for years. Maybe I've been working hard to keep you from knowing. But that doesn't mean I don't want to."

Woohyun looks like he wants to say something – _anything_... but can't think of what to say at all. Nam Woohyun, speechless, what a moment to remember.

"But I'm not going to," Sunggyu finishes. "And I never will. You're too important to me to push away just like that."

"Sunggyu. Hyung. I can't-"

"I know. And I'm not going to ask you to. But I'm not going away, either," Sunggyu preempts him. "I'm not going to be afraid of being around you just because you know now. I just..."

It doesn't take too long for Woohyun to compose himself. To catch on to what Sunggyu is saying. "Don't want me to be afraid of you?" Woohyun finishes for him. He breaks out a smile, one of the genuine variety, the kind he uses only when there are no cameras around. "Me? Afraid of you? Kim Sunggyu, it'll take a lot more than this to chase me away."

It's Sunggyu who's laughing this time. Not in relief, not exactly. More like... being free after spending so long in chains. More like riding the wings of a dragon for the very first time. "I'm not idiotic enough to think otherwise."

"But thank you for telling me," Woohyun says. Takes Sunggyu's hand and squeezes. "I'm glad to know."

Maybe a lot more happened than Sunggyu saving the other world. Maybe it wasn't just the other Woohyun's wish that brought him there.

 _So._ Sunggyu breathes lightly. _What was I worried about all this time?_

 

 

 

"Aaaaand look who's back!"

"Enough of the melodrama, Woohyun."

"Hyung!" the rest of the team cheers as Sunggyu hobbles into the practice room. Woohyun jumps out of the way just in time for Myungsoo to barrel into Sunggyu and almost carry him back into the hallway. Nobody can hug quite as dynamically as Kim Myungsoo.

"You sure you should be on your feet, gramps?" Howon teases, smile too wide to be teasing.

Sunggyu fake-glares at him. "Just wait 'til this leech gets off me and I'll show you who should be in bed."

"Nothing like threats of violence to assure everyone that you're okay," Sungjong says, only half exasperated.

"I guess this means we should all be on our best behavior again." Sungyeol sighs deeply. "Man, I _really_ don't want to do the laundry."

But it's Dongwoo who pushes the Sunggyu-Myungsoo mess of limbs back into the practice room. "I'm all for Sunggyu resting as well but there's something hugely wrong about seeing only six of us dancing in the mirror."

"Come on, Myungsoo." Howon does his best in prying the two apart. "Leader-Gyu has to earn his spot in Infinite again."

"And work harder for it, too," Sungjong adds.

"You guys aren't getting rid of me that easily," Sunggyu says confidently.

"We're still young enough to dream." Sungyeol winks at him. "We almost succeeded, too."

"What was that, Lee Sungyeol? It sounded like you were volunteering for laundry duty."

"Didn't say a thing, Noble and Wise Leader-Gyu," Sungyeol backtracks and Woohyun breaks up laughing.

"That's more like it. Now, everyone to your places," Sunggyu commands. And just like before, like always, Infinite follows even if they groan and complain every single time. "Music in three. Two. One."

Maybe they can win this world after all.


End file.
